Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effects of temperature, moisture, substrates and soil coverage on sclerotium germination and hyphal growth of Southern blight of apple in China

  • Published:
European Journal of Plant Pathology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Southern blight, caused by Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc., is a significant disease of apple in China and many other counties. Sclerotium germination and hyphal growth are two critical processes for epidemic development. Controlled experiments were conducted to study the effects of environmental conditions on sclerotium germination and hyphal growth of the pathogen. Temperature for sclerotium germination and hyphal growth of S. rolfsii ranges from 15 to 35oC with the optimum at 31.5oC. The soil water content needs to exceed 30%, and once over this threshold, soil water content did not affect sclerotium germination and hyphal growth. The rate of sclerotium germination was high in sawdust, and hyphae grew fastest in the mixture of sawdust and soil. Sclerotium germination and hyphal growth were inhibited in nursery substrate. Hyphal growth was affected by pH but to a far lesser extent sclerotium germination. Soaking in water inhibited sclerotium germination.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bhardwaj, L. N., and Agarwala, R. K. (1986). Effect of some important edaphic factors on the incidence of seedling blight of apple caused by Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc. In T. R. Chadha (Ed.), Advances in research on temperate fruits (pp. 403-406): Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, India.

  • Billah, K. M. M. (2017). Pathogenicity of Sclerotium rolfsii on different hosts, and its over wintering survival; a mini review. Journal of Advances in Agriculture, 2(1), 2456–75152.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, E. A., & Hendrix, F. F. (1980). Distribution and control of Sclerotium rolfsii on apple. Plant Disease Reporter, 64(2), 205–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bulluck, L. R., & Ristaino, J. B. (2002). Effect of synthetic and organic soil fertility amendments on southern blight, soil microbial communities, and yield of processing tomatoes. Phytopathology, 92(2), 181–189.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Conway, K. E., Tomasino, S., & Claypool, P. L. (1996). Evaluations of biological and chemical controls for southern blight of apple rootstock in Oklahoma nurseries. Proceedings of Oklahoma Academy of Sciences, 76, 9–15.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cooley, J. S. (1936). Sclerotium rolfsii as a disease of apple nursery trees. Phytopathology, 26, 1081–1083.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooley, J. S. (1946). Root diseases of deciduous fruit trees. Botanical Review, 12(2), 83–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corazza, L., Belisario, A., & Forti, E. (1999). First report of root and collar rot by Sclerotium rolfsii on apple trees in Italy. Plant Disease, 83(7), 695–695.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Epps, W. M., Patterson, J. C., & Freeman, I. E. (1951). Physiology and parasitism of Sclerotium rolfsii. Phytopathology, 41(3), 245–256.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gao, C., Li, D., Li, B., Zhang, J., and Dong, X. (2019). Screening and application of fungicides against southern blight caused by Sclerotium rolfsii on apple. Plant Protection 45(04):255-260+270.

  • Hadar, Y., & Gorodecki, B. (1991). Suppression of germination of sclerotia of Sclerotium rolfsii in compost. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 23(3), 303–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalaigrami, L., Mnarihattab, M., Terres, R., Dridi, M., & Hajlaoui, M. R. (2013). First report of apple collar rot incited by Sclerotium rolfsii in Tunisia. Journal of Plant Pathology, 95, 4–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kator, L., Hosea, Z. Y., & Oche, O. D. (2015). Sclerotium rolfsii; causative organism of southern blight, stem rot, white mould and sclerotia rot disease. Annals of Biological Research, 6(11), 78–89.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lifshitz, R., Tabachnik, M., Katan, J., & Chet, I. (1983). The effect of sublethal heating on sclerotia of Sclerotium rolfsii. Canadian Journal of Microbiology, 29(12), 1607–1610.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, M., Song, L., Zhao, L., Tang, Y., Sun, Y., Zhang, X., & Jiang, Z. (2018). Occurrence and control of apple southern blight. Yantai Fruits, 04, 35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Punja, Z. K. (1985). The biology, ecology, and control of sclerotium rolfsii. Annual Review of Phytopathology, 23(1), 97–127.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Punja, Z. K. (1988). Sclerotium (Athelia) rolfsii, a Pathogen of Many Plant Species. Pages In G. S. Sidhu (Ed.), Advances in Plant Pathology (vol. 6, pp. 523-534): Academic Press.

  • Punja, Z. K., & Jenkins, S. F. (1984). Influence of temperature, moisture, modified gaseous atmosphere, and depth in soil on eruptive sclerotial germination of Sclerotium rolfsii. Phytopathology, 74(6), 749–754.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodriguezkabana, R., Beute, M. K., & Backman, P. A. (1980). A method for estimating numbers of viable sclerotia of Sclerotium rolfsii in soil. Phytopathology, 70(6), 917–919.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarma, B. K., Singh, U. P., & Singh, K. P. (2002). Variability in Indian isolates of Sclerotium rolfsii. Mycologia, 94(6), 1051–1058.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shay, J. R. (1953). Southern blight of apple nursery stock in Indiana. Plant Disease Reporter, 37, 121.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sonali, & Gupta, A. K. (2004). Efficacy of plant materials on inhibition of sclerotial germination of Sclerotium rolfsii. Journal of Mycology & Plant Pathology, 34(2), 382–384.

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu, C., Chi, F., Ji, Z., Zhang, J., Wang, N., and Zhou, Z. (2019). Biological characteristics of southern blight pathogen and laboratory toxicity test of fungicides. South China Fruit 48(04):99-103+106.

  • Xu, Z., Gleason, M. L., Mueller, D. S., Esker, P. D., Bradley, C. A., Buck, J. W., Benson, D. M., Dixon, P., & Monteiro, J. E. B. A. (2008). Overwintering of Sclerotium rolfsii and S. rolfsii var. delphinii in different latitudes of the United States. Plant Disease, 92(5), 719–724.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu, C. (2017). Causes and control of southern blight outbreak on dwarf rootstock apple trees in Yishui County. Northern Fruits, 1, 36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zmora-Nahum, S., Danon, M., Hadar, Y., & Chen, Y. (2008). Chemical properties of compost extract inhibitory to germination of Sclerotium rolfsii. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 40(10), 2523–2529.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zoberi, M. H. (1980). Some nutritional factors regulating formation of sclerotia of Sclerotium rolfsii. Botany, 58(23), 2484–2490.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zwietering, M. H., De Koos, J. T., Hasenack, B. B. E., De Witt, J. C., & Riet, K. V. T. (1991). Modelling of bacterial growth as a function of temperature. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 57(4), 1094–1101.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the China Agriculture Research System of MOF and MARA (CARS-28), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFD0201122), and the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Project of Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences (2017CXGC0214). We thank Professor Xiangming Xu for his review and revision of this article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Plant Health and Medicine, Qingdao Agricultural University; Key Lab of Integrated Crop Pests Management of Shandong Province, Qingdao, Shandong, 266109, P. R. China

    Xiang-li Dong, Chang-yan Gao, Ping-liang Li, Sen Lian, Shan-yue Zhou & Bao-hua Li

Authors
  1. Xiang-li Dong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Chang-yan Gao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ping-liang Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Sen Lian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Shan-yue Zhou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Bao-hua Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bao-hua Li.

Ethics declarations

Human and animal rights

This research does not include any animal and/or human trials.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Dong, Xl., Gao, Cy., Li, Pl. et al. Effects of temperature, moisture, substrates and soil coverage on sclerotium germination and hyphal growth of Southern blight of apple in China. Eur J Plant Pathol 162, 477–487 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-021-02418-1

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-021-02418-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation