A root-tip rot of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) caused by Fusarium oxysporum Schlecht. emend. Snyd. & Hans. has been reported from Texas (2). This disease is typified by yellowing of the foliage, vascular discoloration, and a rot of the root tip. During 2002 and 2003, sugar beet samples from several fields in Colorado and Montana, some with tip rot symptoms, were received by the authors. Isolations were made from the root vascular tissue and tissue adjacent to the rot in Colorado and from the rot tissue in Montana. Isolates of Fusarium were obtained and identified as Fusarium oxysporum. At the ARS laboratory in Colorado, F. oxysporum isolates were tested for pathogenicity by dipping roots of 5-week-old sugar beet plants (FC716) in a suspension of 104 spores per ml for 8 min, 10 plants per isolate. One known isolate of F. oxysporum f. sp. betae that causes Fusarium yellows, Fob13, was used for comparison. For a negative control, plants were dipped in sterile water. Beets were planted in Cone-Tainers (3.8 cm in diameter × 21 cm) containing pasteurized potting mix. Plants were placed in a greenhouse at 24 to 27°C and fertilized with 15-30-15 fertilizer every 2 weeks to avoid chlorosis from nutrient deficiency. Plants were rated weekly for foliar symptoms for 6 weeks with a Fusarium yellows rating scale of 0 to 4, in which 0 = no disease and 4 = complete plant death (1). After the final rating, plants were removed from the soil and the taproot was examined for rot symptoms. Root segments were surface disinfested with 0.5% sodium hypochlorite and cultured on potato dextrose agar to confirm the presence of the pathogen. The experiment was done twice. Six of ten F. oxysporum isolates tested caused root vascular discoloration and foliar symptoms, including interveinal yellowing and wilting, of inoculated plants. A rot of the root tip was observed on the roots of plants inoculated with three of the six pathogenic isolates. Isolate Fob13 caused only vascular discoloration and foliar symptoms with no rot. Similar experiments were done in Montana with the exception that 3-week-old plants (cv. Monohikari) were used and planted in 10-cm plastic pots with five seedlings per pot. Inoculum levels were 105 spores per ml of F. oxysporum f. sp. betae (isolate 216C) or tip rot isolates (3 isolates), and the experiments were terminated 4 weeks after planting. The root rot isolates caused foliar symptoms, vascular discoloration, and root rot similar to that seen in the field, whereas isolate 216C caused only foliar wilt symptoms and vascular discoloration. Isolations from inoculated plants in Colorado and Montana resulted in F. oxysporum cultures similar to those used in inoculation. To our knowledge, this is the first report of F. oxysporum causing root rot of sugar beet outside of Texas.
References: (1) L. E. Hanson and A. L. J. Hill. Sugarbeet Res. 41:163, 2004. (2) R. M. Harveson and C. M. Rush. Plant Dis. 82:1039, 1998.
