Disease Note

Bunt of Wheat Caused by Tilletia caries Widespread in Southwestern Oklahoma in 1983. E. Williams, Jr., and F. J. Gough, Department of Plant Pathology, Oklahoma State University, and USDA, ARS, Plant Science and Water Conservation Research Laboratory, Stillwater, 74078. Plant Dis. 68:537, 1984. Accepted for publication 2 March 1984. Copyright 1984 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-68-537b.

Reports of bunt outbreaks in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) increased in 1983 for five southwestern Oklahoma counties.  Average size of 100 teliospores was 20 μm in diameter (15–23 μm) and all had highly reticulate walls, a distinguishing morphological characteristic of Tilletia caries (DC.) Tul.  Teliospores germinated within 1 wk on 3% water agar held at 17 C, indicating that they were of T. caries and not of T. controversa Kühn, the cause of dwarf bunt.  It is highly probable that inadequate use of fungicides for seed treatments has contributed to this increase of bunt.

References: Trione, E. J., and Krygier, B. B. Phytopathology 67:1166, 1977.