Acremonium Wilt of Sorghum. Marina P. Natural, Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Plant Sciences, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (Lubbock), Texas A&M University, College Station 77843. R. A. Frederiksen, Professor, Department of Plant Sciences, and D. T. Rosenow, Professor, Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (Lubbock), Texas A&M University, College Station 77843. Plant Dis. 66:863-865. Accepted for publication 3 May 1982. Copyright 1982 American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-66-863.

Acremonium wilt, a new disease of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) in the United States, is different from other diseases in sorghum. It is distinguished by the development of large patches of dead tissue along one axis of a leaf on either side of the midvein. As the disease progresses, whole leaves die and disease symptoms appear as the pathogen spreads into the younger leaves. The disease often results in discoloration of vascular tissue in leaves and stalks. Acremonium strictum was isolated consistently from stalks, leaf sheaths, and leaves of diseased plants. Several sorghum entries were resistant to the pathogen following natural infection or foliar clipping in the field. However, drenching around injured roots with inoculum and injecting a conidial suspension at the base of the plant increased their susceptibility. Grain production was reduced by 50% in affected plants.

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