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Soil moisture affects disease severity and colonisation of wheat roots by Rhizoctonia solani AG-8
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Soil moisture affects disease severity and colonisation of wheat roots by Rhizoctonia solani AG-8

J.S. Gill, K. Sivasithamparam and K.R.J. Smettem
Soil Biology and Biochemistry, Vol.33(10), pp.1363-1370
2001
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0038-0717(01)00041-4
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Abstract

Experiments were conducted to study how the soil moisture affects rhizoctonia root rot of wheat, colonisation of root by Rhizoctonia sotani AG-8, spread of fungus in the soil and microbial activity of soil. Four soil moisture levels ranging from 15 to 75% water-holding capacity of a sandy soil at saturation, which equated to a soil water potential range of -10 to -3 kPa, were tested. It was found that the disease severity decreased up to 69%, as the soil became wetter. The soil moisture status at and above 20% WHC however, did not significantly affect the spread of the fungus in soil. Colonisation of roots by young unpigmented hyphae of the fungus diminished with increasing soil moisture, from 80% of root length colonised under relatively dry conditions (15% WHC) to 20-25% under wet conditions (75% WHC). Soil microbial activity increased with increasing soil moisture and may be associated with suppression of pathogen activity through competition.

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Source: InCites

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Citation topics
3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology
3.97 Plant Pathology
3.97.556 Microbial Biocontrol
Web Of Science research areas
Soil Science
ESI research areas
Agricultural Sciences
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