Allium vineale L. (wild garlic) is a bulbous perennial that emerges in early spring in many agricultural fields. The soilborne fungus Sclerotinia minor Jagger is a major pathogen found in many peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) production areas of northeastern North Carolina. During September 2002, symptoms of bleached, water-soaked foliage and wilting were observed on several wild garlic plants growing in a 0.8-ha (2-acre) peanut research plot in Perquimans County, NC. We had previously observed similar symptoms on wild garlic at another location. Two symptomatic wild garlic plants were collected from the field. In the laboratory, symptomatic tissues were excised into 1- to 2-cm sections, rinsed in tap water, towel dried, and placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA) for fungal isolation and identification. Pure cultures with small, black, irregular-shaped sclerotia (<2 mm) scattered abundantly over the culture surface were distinctive of S. minor. Pathogenicity of isolates was tested by inoculating leaf blades near the leaf axils of two symptom-free wild garlic plants (vegetative stage, 4 cm high) with fungal mycelium from 2-day-old cultures. Mycelial agar plugs (4 mm in diameter) were held in place with self-sticking bandaging gauze. Plants were misted, enclosed in plastic bags, and incubated at an ambient temperature (24°C) on the laboratory countertop. Fluffy mycelium developed on leaves within 2 days. Plants wilted and bleached water-soaked lesions formed within 6 days after inoculation. Sclerotia were produced on leaf blades after approximately 14 days. Following the incubation period, S. minor was reisolated from the inoculated plants. Two plants treated similarly with plugs of pure PDA remained healthy over the incubation period. The performance of Koch's postulates confirmed that wild garlic is a host of S. minor. Although few monocots have been reported as hosts of S. minor, the fungus has been reported on two other species of Allium (A. cepa and A. satium), Gladiolus spp., and Cyperus esculentus (1,2). Weed hosts may support populations of S. minor during rotations to nonhosts, serve as reservoirs of inoculum, or act as infection bridges in peanut fields.
References: (1) D. F. Farr et al. Fungal Databases. Systematic Botany and Mycology Laboratory. On-line publication. ARS, USDA, 2005. (2) M. S. Melzer et al. Can. J. Plant Pathol. 19:272, 1997.
