Survival of Cercospora zeae-maydis in Corn Residue in Ohio. N. R. X. de Nazareno, Former Graduate Student, Department of Plant Pathology, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), The Ohio State University, Wooster 44691. P. E. Lipps, and L. V. Madden. Associate Professor, and Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), The Ohio State University, Wooster 44691. Plant Dis. 76:560-563. Accepted for publication 24 January 1992. Copyright 1992 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-76-0560.

Sporulation of Cercospora zeae-maydis was detected from lesions on pieces of leaf blades and sheaths kept on the soil surface or buried 5–10 cm beneath the soil surface during the winter and spring months of 1990 and 1991. Sporulation was not detected after May on buried infected tissues. The mean number of conidia per square millimeter of lesion varied from 2.1 to 5,430.6 on leaf blade tissues at two locations and from 5.9 to 104.6 on leaf sheath tissues on the soil surface at one location. However, the coefficient of variation among replications of each treatment was high. Samples of conidia from leaf blades in May 1990 and June 1991 had 50–80% germination. The lack of sporulation on infected tissues buried from December to May substantiates the benefit of tillage to reduce the amount of overwintering inoculum and verifies the potential for epidemic development posed by infected residue left on the soil surface.