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

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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 solani 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. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1363-1370
JournalSoil Biology & Biochemistry
Volume33
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2001

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