Severe Outbreaks of Verticillium Wilt on Cichorium intybus and Brassica rapa and Pathogenic Variations Among Isolates of Verticillium dahliae. Franco Ciccarese, Dipartimento di Patologia vegetale, University of Bari, Italy. Salvatore Frisullo, and Matteo Cirulli. Istituto tossine e micotossine da parassiti vegetali, C.N.R. Bari, Italy; and Dipartimento di Patologia vegetale, University of Bari, Italy. Plant Dis. 71:1144-1145. Accepted for publication 1 June 1987. Copyright 1987 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-71-1144.

Severe attacks on chicory (Cichorium intybus) and broccoli raab (Brassica rapa) caused by Verticillium dahliae have been observed in southern Italy. The symptomatology of diseased plants of both vegetable species have many traits in common. Infected plants showed stunted growth as well as yellowing and drying of lower leaves. Pathogenicity tests were carried out on various herbaceous plants with isolates of V. dahliae from chicory (Vd-CL and Vd-CT). Broccoli raab was susceptible to all isolates of V. dahliae tested, whereas Italian cultivars of chicory were susceptible to their homologous isolates of V. dahliae but immune to other isolates of the fungus. Florida Market eggplant and Hale’s Best melon were susceptible to all isolates, whereas Quadrato d’Asti pepper and Marketer cucumber proved to be immune to all isolates of V. dahliae.