Seedling Blight Development and Control in Spring Wheat Damaged by Fusarium graminearum Group 2

Aspects of seedborne infection in Fusarium-damaged and undamaged seed lots of hard red spring wheat were studied. In a 22°C environment, seedling blight developed from plantings of Fusarium-damaged seed that were characterized by both reduction and delay in emergence and postemergence seedling death. After 28 days, stand counts from the Fusarium-damaged seed lot averaged 46%, compared with 98% from the undamaged seed lot. However, the mean dry weight of surviving seedlings from the Fusarium-damaged lot was not statistically different from that of seedlings from the undamaged seed lot. Surface-sterilization reduced recovery of Fusarium graminearum group 2 from the damaged lot by 7% and increased germination by 32%, suggesting that seed are both infected and contaminated with viable propagules of the fungus. In field experiments, seed treatment with maneb- or thiabendazole-containing fungicide combinations significantly reduced seedling blight and improved stands derived from the Fusarium-damaged seed lot. Triazole fungicides, including difenoconazole, fenbuconazole, and tetraconazole, were less effective. Triazole fungicides and carboxin-containing fungicide combinations controlled loose smut in these trials, while maneb seed treatments did not. In four field tests, seedling blight incidence in plantings of Fusarium-damaged seed increased as soil temperatures during emergence increased. The distribution of blighted seedlings was random and not clustered. Seedling blight did not develop in field plantings of the undamaged seed lot.