Reproduction of Crown Rot of Wheat Caused by Fusarium graminearum Group 1 in the Greenhouse. C. M. Liddell, Fusarium Research Laboratory, Department of Plant Pathology and Agricultural Entomology, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. L. W. Burgess, and P. W. J. Taylor, Fusarium Research Laboratory, Department of Plant Pathology and Agricultural Entomology, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. Plant Dis. 70:632-635. Accepted for publication 29 January 1986. Copyright 1986 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-70-632.

Crown rot of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) caused by Fusarium graminearum group 1 was reproduced in artificially infested field soil in the greenhouse. A technique was developed to study the relationship between the quantity of inoculum and disease development. Two hard white spring wheat cultivars, Cook (tolerant to crown rot) and Songlen (low tolerance to crown rot), were sown in galvanized bins. Three quantities of inoculum (artificially colonized wheat chaff) were used. The inoculum was spread as a thin layer in the surface soil, midway between the seed and the soil surface. Soil moisture was maintained at near field capacity. The plants were observed for symptoms periodically and harvested after 130 days, when they were rated for disease. Symptoms and yield loss were similar to those observed on field plants. The technique is useful for studies on infection, colonization, and tolerance of various lines of wheat.