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Title: Nematospora Seed Rot and Lint Stain: Distribution, Importance and Association with Hemiptera

Author
item Bell, Alois - Al
item Lopez, Juan De Dios
item Medrano, Enrique
item BACHELOR, JACK - NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIV
item GREEN, JEREMY - CLEMSON UNIVERSITY
item ROBERTS, PHILLIP - UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
item MAROIS, JAMES - UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
item WRIGHT, DAVID - UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
item NICHOLS, ROBERT - COTTON INCORPORATED

Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/17/2007
Publication Date: 1/11/2007
Citation: Bell, A.A., Lopez, J., Medrano, E.G., Bachelor, J., Green, J., Roberts, P., Marois, J., Wright, D., Nichols, R. 2007. Nematospora seed rot and lint stain: Distribution, importance and association with Hemiptera [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Beltwide Cotton Conferences, January 9-12, 2007, New Orleans, Louisiana. CDROM.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The infectious yeast Nematospora gossypii (= Ashbya gossypii), which is introduced into bolls by insects, was a major cause of boll rot and lint stain in Africa and Asia prior to the use of modern pesticides. However, it was noted only once approximately 20 years ago in the USA. In 2005 and 2006, feral stink bugs and plant bugs in Texas were caged over 14-day-old cotton bolls in the greenhouse to determine what pathogens were being carried and subsequently introduced into bolls by feeding. The pathogen found most frequently in both years was Nematospora gossypii with more than 50% of 200 insects introducing the pathogen into bolls. In 2006, bolls from plots sprayed and not sprayed with insecticides were collected from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. A high percentage of bug-punctured locks were infected with N. gossypii, especially in Georgia and Florida. Insecticides reduced both insect punctures and the incidence of Nematospora associated seed rot. The infectious yeast was not recovered from unpunctured locules and did not spread to adjoining locules when puncture inoculated into single locules of bolls. Reactions of different cultivars are being determined and will be reported. In controlled inoculations, N. gossypii was less virulent than opportunistic bacterial isolates. However, in the samples examined N. gossypii occurred more frequently than bacteria, indicating that it is an important cause of seed rot and lint staining.