Fungi Associated with Cornstalks in Illinois in 1982 and 1983. B. Anderson, Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Illinois, Urbana 61801. D. G. White, Associate Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Illinois, Urbana 61801. Plant Dis. 71:135-137. Accepted for publication 24 June 1986. Copyright 1987 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-71-0135.

Cornstalks from 40 and 45 cornfields throughout Illinois were sampled in 1982 and 1983, respectively. The samples were examined to determine the prevalence of stalk-rot fungi associated with both rotted and symptomless stalks. Of the rotted cornstalks collected in 1982, Colletotrichum graminicola was isolated from 46.3% and Gibberella zeae was found in 39.7%. In 1983, Macrophomina phaseolina and C. graminicola were isolated from 35.2 and 34.1% of all diseased stalks, respectively. Other fungi isolated from diseased stalks, in decreasing order of prevalence, included Stenocarpella maydis, Fusarium moniliforme, and Bipolaris zeicola. G. zeae and F. moniliforme were the pathogens most frequently isolated from symptomless stalks during both years of the survey.