Virulence and Molecular Genotyping Studies of Sporisorium reilianum Isolates in Sorghum.

Head smut, caused by the fungal pathogen Sporisorium reilianum, has been reported with increasing frequency in the grain sorghum growing areas of Texas. To facilitate analysis of changes in pathogen virulence, four inoculation techniques were examined: soil and teliospore mixture, seed coating, media placement, and syringe injection. Of the four, syringe injection was determined to be the most effective.

A region of maize chromosome 2 affects response to downy mildew pathogens.

Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for downy mildew resistance in maize were identified based on co-segregation with linked restriction fragment length polymorphisms or simple sequence repeats in 220 F2 progeny from a cross between susceptible and resistant parents. Disease response was assessed on F3 families in nurseries in Egypt, Thailand, and South Texas and after inoculation in a controlled greenhouse test. Heritability of the disease reaction was high (around 93% in Thailand).

Relations Among Sorghum Ergot Isolates from the Americas, Africa, India, and Australia.

Sorghum ergot, initially restricted to Asia and Africa, was recently found in the Americas and Australia. Three species causing the disease have been reported: Claviceps sorghi in India, C. sorghicola in Japan, and C.

Development of an Infection Assay for Sporisorium reilianum, the Head Smut Pathogen on Sorghum.

The practical value of dry teliospores of Sporisorium reilianum as inoculum in head smut infection assays was determined from a series of studies using three different isolates of the pathogen. Overall germinability of teliospores ranged from 8.0 to 28.