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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Davis, California » Crops Pathology and Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #222026

Title: EFFECT OF SOLARIZATION ON SURVIVAL OF COLLETOTRICHUM ACUTATUM AND PHYTHOPHTHORA CACTORUM, CAUSAL AGENTS OF CROWN ROTS OF STRAWBERRY IN CALIFORNIA

Author
item SU, HAI
item BHAT, RAVI
item GUBLER, WALTER
item Browne, Greg

Submitted to: Joint Meeting of the American Phytopathological Society and Society of Nematology
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/1/2007
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Nylon bags containing strawberry plant tissues infected by Colletotrichum acutatum or V8 juice-oat seed-vermiculite (V8JOV) substrate colonized by Phytophthora cactorum were buried at depths of 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 cm in Yolo Fine Sandy Loam soil, which was non-solarized or solarized using a 6-mm plastic film. Bags were recovered after 51 (July 2 to Aug. 22, 2005) and 62 (July 23 to Sept. 23, 2006) days. Buried plant tissues and V8JOV substrate were plated on agar media to evaluate the survival of the pathogens. There was a significant difference in survival rates between solarized and non-solarized soils for both pathogens in both years. Neither pathogen survived at 0 to 40 cm depths in solarized soil. In contrast, both pathogens survived at all soil depths in the non-solarized soil, but there was a general decline in survival rate. During the burial period, accumulated hours above 35, 40, and 45°C at all depths were 445 to 853, 0 to 289, and 0 to 289 h, respectively, in 2005, and 301 to 334, 123 to 153, and 5 to 17 h, respectively, in 2006. Preliminary tests on thermal sensitivity of these two pathogens indicated that C. acutatum survived up to 14 days at 35°C and 2 days at 40°C, while P. cactorum survived ca. 2 days at 35°C and 4 h at 40°C. Solarization is a potential soil sanitation practice for strawberry nurseries, organic or conventional fruit production.