Open Access

ARTICLE

Wilt and vascular root rot (Pythium tracheiphilum) of lettuce in Bahía Blanca, Argentina

Kiehr M¹, R Delhey¹, J Lusto²

1 Dto. de Agronomía, Universidad Nacional del Sur, 8000 Bahía Blanca, Argentina.
2 Convenio Dto. de Agronomía, Universidad Nacional del Sur, Municipalidad de Bahía Blanca, Argentina.

* Corresponding Author:Address Correspondence to: Ing. Agr. (Mag) Mirta Kiehr, e-mail:

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2015, 84(2), 423-426. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2015.84.423

Abstract

A new disease of lettuce has been observed in the surroundings of Bahía Blanca, Argentina. The symptoms include dwarfing, general chlorosis, wilting, root rot, and leaf blight, sometimes followed by plant death. Pythium tracheiphilum Matta was found to be consistently associated with those symptoms. The morphological and morphometric characteristics of this oomycete are described. Isolates obtained from field-infected lettuce plants were inoculated to lettuce and caused similar symptoms as those found in natural infections. Seedling emergence was also severely affected following experimental inoculation. Koch’s Postulates were fulfilled by recovering the fungus from inoculated plants. The new disease shows a high destructive potential but currently has a limited prevalence and incidence.

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