VERTICILLIUM DAHLIAE AND GLIOCLADIUM ROSEUM ISOLATION FROM STRAWBERRIES IN NOVA SCOTIA

Abstract

Wilt of strawberries caused by Verticillium dahliae Klebahn in Nova Scotia can be found only in original sets during late summer and fall. In mature fruiting plants the symptoms have not been observed and isolations have fatted to demonstrate presence of the fungus. Gliocladium roseum (Link) Bainier was frequently found colonizing the crown vascular tissue of wilt-infected sets. In the spring of the fruiting year it also occurred in dying plants, from which the wilt fungus could not be isolated. The presence of this mycoparasite in crowns may account for the fact that V. dahliae was readily isolated from petioles and roots but seldom from the crowns. A surface sterilization treatment of 5% chlorine for 1 hour did not inhibit the isolation of V. dahliae from infected petioles, and practically eliminated contamination of culture plates by fungi inhabiting the surface of the petioles.