Factors Influencing Infection by Aspergillus flavus in Silk-Inoculated Corn. R. K. Jones, Graduate Research Assistant, USDA, SEA, AR, Department of Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27650. H. E. Duncan, Specialist in Charge, Extension Plant Pathology, G. A. Payne, Assistant Professor, and K. J. Leonard, Plant Pathologist, USDA, SEA, AR, Department of Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27650. Plant Dis. 64:859-863. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1980. DOI: 10.1094/PD-64-859.

Aspergillus flavus infected and produced aflatoxin in kernels of silk-inoculated corn grown in an environment devoid of ear-inhabiting insects. Aflatoxin concentration was linearly correlated with the number of visibly infected kernels. Infection was favored more by warm (32–38 C) than by cool (21–26 C) temperatures. Inoculation of exposed silks of two field-grown commercial dent cultivars 0, 1, 2, and 4 wk after silk emergence resulted in infection and aflatoxin production.