Viability of Sclerotia of Sclerotinia minor After Passage Through the Digestive Tract of a Crossbred Heifer. H. A. Melouk, USDA-ARS, Department of Plant Pathology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater 74078. L. L. Singleton, F. N. Owens, and C. N. Akem. Department of Plant Pathology, Department of Animal Science, and Department of Plant Pathology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater 74078. Plant Dis. 73:68-69. Accepted for publication 2 September 1988. 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, 1989. DOI: 10.1094/PD-73-0068.

Peanut hay of the cultivar Florunner infested with Sclerotinia minor and containing sclerotia was fed for 10 days to a crossbred heifer. Fecal and ruminal samples were collected 6–9 days after the feeding began. Sclerotia of S. minor were recovered from fecal and ruminal samples by wet-sieving on a series of metal screens. Sclerotialike bodies retained on the 0.84-mm screen were collected, surface-sterilized in 0.5% NaClO for 3 min, and plated on potato-dextrose agar containing 100 ?g/ml of streptomycin sulfate. Viable sclerotia were recovered from fecal and ruminal samples regardless of collection time. However, survival of sclerotia was greater in ruminal samples than in fecal samples. Viable half-life in the rumen was about 20 hr. Cultures of S. minor from fecal and ruminal sclerotia were pathogenic to peanut cultivar Tamnut 74 under greenhouse conditions.