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Title: OCCURRENCE OF VINE DECLINE DISEASES OF MELONS IN HONDURAS

Author
item Bruton, Benny
item MILLER, MARVIN - TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Plant Disease
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/20/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Central American countries have become major production areas of melon destined for export to Europe and the United States during the winter months. The continuous and intensive cultivation of these crops has resulted in an increase world-wide of a group of soilborne diseases known as vine declines. Vines typically appear healthy until the fruit are approaching maturity when the crown leaves begin to turn yellow, collapse, and the decline gradually radiates outward. Isolations from affected plants revealed the presence of several fungi capable of causing vine decline or suspected to be involved in the vine decline complex. The fungi obtained were the same pathogens frequently encountered in the United States. These data provide information on the distribution and extends the known range of these vine decline fungi into Central America.

Technical Abstract: A survey of vine decline diseases of melons (Cucumis melo L.) was conducted on three geographically separate farms (12 fields) in the area of San Lorenzo, Honduras during the spring of 1996. Symptoms were typical of the vine declines in that the leaves began yellowing and collapsing in the crown and radiating out just prior to harvest. Roots exhibited brown lesions, root corking , and were generally lacking root hairs, although, the roots were not macerated. Isolations were made from the crown area, primary root, and secondary roots of affected plants. Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn was the predominant fungus isolated from affected plants in several fields with an incidence as high as 75%. A species of Pythium was isolated from primary and secondary roots of 50% of the plants on the Santa Rosa farm. Vines exhibiting tan to light brown crown lesions either on one side of the vine or encompassing the crown but, without gumming, always produced colonies of Fusarium semitectum Berk. & Ravenel. Fusarium solani (Mart.) Appel & Wollenweb. emend. W. C. Snyder & H. N. Hans. was isolated from roots of more than 30% of the plants, although this is not unusually high. Crown lesions typical of charcoal rot were observed in some fields with Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) Goidanich being isolated from 65% of the plants in one field. Didymella bryoniae was not isolated. A Stagonospora-like fungus, which has been demonstrated recently as a potential contributor to vine decline, was isolated on 17% of the plants from five fields on the Embarcadero Farm. Monosporascus cannonballus was isolated infrequently in one field on the Santa Rosa Farm. This represents the first report of M. cannonballus and a Stagonospora-like fungus in Honduras.