Effect of phosphorus deficiency in wheat on the infection of roots by Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici

Abstract

Wheat was grown in a slightly acidic grey sand at six levels of phosphorus, in the presence or absence of take-all inoculum in a glasshouse experiment. The incidence and severity of take-all was related to the phosphorus supply and the phosphorus status of wheat.Plants grown without P were more severely infected by take-all than those grown at adequate levels of phosphorus. The percentage of both nodal and seminal roots infected by take-all declined as the level of P was increased. The percentage of seminal roots infected was reduced from 35% to 13.7% by increasing the supply of phosphorus from levels severely deficient to those adequate for plant growth. Infection in nodal roots was reduced from 24% to 2.3% as the P supply increased. In both the seminal and nodal root systems, increasing the P supply decreased the length of proximal lesions (closest to seed) and increased the length of root between the crown and the proximal lesions.