Evaluation of Chemical and Physical Treatments to Prevent Germination of Tilletia indica Teliospores. J. L. Smilanick, USDA-ARS Crops Research Laboratory, Utah State University, Logan 84322. J. A. Hoffmann, L. R. Secrest, and K. Wiese. USDA-ARS Crops Research Laboratory, Utah State University, Logan 84322.. Plant Dis. 72:46-51. Accepted for publication 17 August 1987. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1988. DOI: 10.1094/PD-72-0046.

Mixtures of healthy wheat seeds and seeds infected with Tilletia indica were soaked in formaldehyde solution, ethanol, hot water (54 C), commercial bleach, chlorine dioxide, cupric acetate, quaternary ammonium solution, or mercuric chloride, exposed to dry heat, or fumigated with methyl bromide, sulfur dioxide, chloropicrin, or ethylene oxide. Teliospore germination was assessed after all treatments, and wheat seed germination was assessed after most treatments. No treatment was completely satisfactory as a seed treatment because teliospores could not be eradicated without a concomitant adverse effect on wheat seed germination. A 20- to 30-min soak in formaldehyde solution (5–10 mg/ml), 2% mercuric chloride, or 40% ethanol was initially promising, but the inability to eradicate deep-seated teliospores, transient inhibition of teliospore germination, and poor wheat seedling emergence and vigor in soil made these seed treatments unsatisfactory.

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