The Potential for Cereal Rye Cover Crops to Host Corn Seedling Pathogens

Cover cropping is a prevalent conservation practice that offers substantial benefits to soil and water quality. However, winter cereal cover crops preceding corn may diminish beneficial rotation effects because two grass species are grown in succession. Here, we show that rye cover crops host pathog...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inPhytopathology Vol. 106; no. 6; pp. 591 - 601
Main Authors Bakker, Matthew G, Acharya, Jyotsna, Moorman, Thomas B, Robertson, Alison E, Kaspar, Thomas C
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.06.2016
Subjects
Agriculture - methods
DNA - genetics
DNA - isolation & purification
Fusarium - isolation & purification
Fusarium graminearum
Herbicides
Plant Diseases - microbiology
Plant Roots - microbiology
Pythium
Pythium - isolation & purification
Secale - microbiology
Secale - physiology
Seedlings - microbiology
Zea mays - microbiology
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Cover cropping is a prevalent conservation practice that offers substantial benefits to soil and water quality. However, winter cereal cover crops preceding corn may diminish beneficial rotation effects because two grass species are grown in succession. Here, we show that rye cover crops host pathogens capable of causing corn seedling disease. We isolated Fusarium graminearum, F. oxysporum, Pythium sylvaticum, and P. torulosum from roots of rye and demonstrate their pathogenicity on corn seedlings. Over 2 years, we quantified the densities of these organisms in rye roots from several field experiments and at various intervals of time after rye cover crops were terminated. Pathogen load in rye roots differed among fields and among years for particular fields. Each of the four pathogen species increased in density over time on roots of herbicide-terminated rye in at least one field site, suggesting the broad potential for rye cover crops to elevate corn seedling pathogen densities. The radicles of corn seedlings planted following a rye cover crop had higher pathogen densities compared with seedlings following a winter fallow. Management practices that limit seedling disease may be required to allow corn yields to respond positively to improvements in soil quality brought about by cover cropping.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:0031-949X
1943-7684
DOI:10.1094/PHYTO-09-15-0214-R