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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Corvallis, Oregon » Forage Seed and Cereal Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #311080

Title: Occurrence of trends of weed seed and pathogen contaminants in bentgrass seed lots in Oregon

Author
item Alderman, Stephen
item ELIAS, S - Oregon State University
item HULTING, A - Oregon State University

Submitted to: Seed Production Research at Oregon State University
Publication Type: Experiment Station
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/15/2014
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: This is a condensed version of a previously published paper concerning the occurrence and trends of weed seed contaminants and pathogen contaminants in bentgrass seed lots in Oregon. The report provides detailed and quantitative information that will be helpful for growers and the grass seed industry. In general, most the seed lots have few contaminants, although some weed and pathogen problems persist and remain problematic.

Technical Abstract: Nearly all of the bentgrass seed grown in the United States is produced in Oregon. However, little is known about the occurrence of weed seed or pathogen propagule contaminants in bentgrass seed lots. This study was conducted to assess the diversity and frequency of occurrence of weed seeds, ergot (Claviceps purpurea), and seed galls (Anguina agrostis) in colonial (Agrostis capillaris L.) and creeping [Agrostis stolonifera L. var. palustris (Huds.) Farw.] bentgrass certified seed lot samples submitted to the Oregon State University Seed Laboratory during 1986-1995 and 2002-2010 for purity analysis. For colonial bentgrass, 113 different weed seed contaminants were detected, with 75 identified to species, 37 to genus and 1 to family. For creeping bentgrass, 61 weed seed contaminants were identified to species, 26 to genus, and 3 to family. The percentage of seed lots per year with no weed contaminants ranged from 13% to 50% and 47% to 84% for colonial bentgrass and creeping bentgrass lots, respectively, depending on year. During 2002-2010, the percentage of seed lots with ergot per year was 44-77% for colonial bentgrass and 16-30% for creeping bentgrass. Seed galls were found in 3-15% of colonial bentgrass seed lots, but were not detected in creeping bentgrass. This study revealed a wide and increasing diversity of weed seed contaminants in colonial and creeping bentgrass and provided evidence of increasing ergot severity in colonial bentgrass.