Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Kimberly, Idaho » Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #328996

Title: Kimberly sugar beet germplasm evaluated for rhizomania and storage rot resistance in Idaho, 2015

Author
item Eujayl, Imad
item Strausbaugh, Carl

Submitted to: Plant Disease Management Reports
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/10/2016
Publication Date: 9/5/2016
Citation: Eujayl, I.A., Strausbaugh, C.A. 2016. Kimberly sugar beet germplasm evaluated for rhizomania and storage rot resistance in Idaho, 2015. Plant Disease Management Reports. 10:FC185.

Interpretive Summary: Preventing sucrose losses in storage is important to the economic viability of the sugar beet industry. Rhizomania, caused by Beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV), is an important viral disease problem worldwide, leading to significant yield loss in both the field and storage. The primary means of controlling these problems is through host resistance. Thus, commercial sugar beet cultivars were screened to characterize them for both resistance to rhizomania and storability from a field infested with BNYVV and another field treated with Telone II (a fumigant that should eliminate the fungal vector for BNYVV). All germplasm entries except one had acceptable levels of rhizomania resistance based on both foliar and root symptoms. The minimal fungal growth on the root surface after 126 days in storage indicated entry K19-17 had both good resistance BNYVV and storage rots. All entries obtained from the field treated with Telone II performed poorly in storage for unknown reasons. These data will aid the sugar beet industry in improving cultivar performance and management options in the field and storage.

Technical Abstract: Rhizomania caused by Beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) and storage losses are serious sugar beet production problems. To identify sugar beet germplasm lines with resistance to BNYVV and storage rots, 11germplasm lines from the USDA-ARS Kimberly sugar beet program were screened. The lines were grown in a sugar beet field infested with BNYVV and one treated with Telone II (18 gpa) in Kimberly, ID during the 2015 growing season in a randomized complete block design with 4 replications. At harvest on 7 October 2015, roots were dug and evaluated for symptoms of rhizomania and also placed in an indoor commercial sugar beet storage building. After 126 days in storage, samples were evaluated for surface fungal growth. Roots for entries from the RZ field averaged 11% of the root surface covered by fungal growth while those from the Telone field averaged 60%. Why these preliminary data suggest a Telone II application would lead to more fungal in storage is unknown. Entry K19-17 was found to have both good BNYVV resistance and only 2% fungal growth on roots from the RZ field. Given the wide ranging responses, selecting germplasm for rhizomania resistance and combining this resistance to storage rots will lead to considerable economic benefit for the sugar beet industry.