NC State and USDA Cucumber Disease Handbook
Fusarium Wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cucumerinum)
Disease:
Fusarium wilt of cucumber, cucumber wilt, foot-rot of cucumber.
Pathogen:
Fusarium oxysporum (Schlect.) Snyd. and Hans. f. sp. cucumerinum
Owen.
Culture Description:
On potato dextrose agar (PKA white mycelium, purple pigment usually
develops with age.
Microscopic Description:
Mycelium:
Septate.
Spores:
Macroconidia are crescent shaped, multiseptate, fine, and well
pointed; Microconidia are single celled and oval; Conidiophore
are very short bearing microconidia in false heads; Chlamydospores
are the resting structures having thick cell wall.
Source:
American Type Culture Collection; 12301 Parklawn Drive; Rockville,
MD 20852. Races 1 through 3 available. P. H. Williams; Plant Pathology
Department; University of Wisconsin; 1630 Linden Drive; Madison,
WI 53706. Race 2.
Relative Stability:
Three races reported. Probably loses pathogenicity after periodic
transfer on PDA.
Variants:
No information.
Storage and Retrieval:
Store in sterile soil at 4°C for several years. Store on
PDA or PDA under sterile mineral oil for 3 months. For retrieval
aseptically remove soil or mycelium, place on PDA, and incubate
at 24°C.
Inoculum Increase:
Place a piece of mycelium in 50 ml of potato dextrose broth (PDB)
in a 125 ml Erlenmeyer flask. Shake on a rotary shaker 26-30°C
for 3-6 days.
Inoculum Preparation:
Comminute fungus and PDB in Waring blender at low speed for 30
sec. 2 times. Centrifuge at 3,000 rpm for 10 min. to wash the
spores. Discard supernatant. Resuspend pellet in distilled water.
Quantification:
Count spores with a hemacytometer. Check percent germination
of spore suspension on water agar after 24 hours.
Inoculum Distribution and Delivery:
Fill metal pan (50 x 29 x 11 cm) with silica sand. Weigh sand.
Need 105 spores per gram sand. Calculate ml of concentrated inoculum
needed per pan. Mix inoculum with deionized water to 1,500 ml
volume. Add to sand. Mix thoroughly in a large mixing pan. Return
sand to metal pan. Make 8 1.5 cm furrows. Plant 20 seeds per row.
Row 5 contains resistant and susceptible checks.
Host:
Cucumis sativus L., cucumber.
Source of Resistance:
Wisconsin SMR 18.
Differentials:
Controls:
Susceptible check Straight Eight. Resistant check Wisconsin SMR
18.
Races:
Line Race 1 2 3
MSU 8519 S R R
MSU 441034 (Chipper) S S R
PI 390265 R S R
R=resistant, S=susceptible (include cucumber cultivar Ashley
to check pathogenicity of race 3).
Reference for races:
Armstrong, G. M., J. K. Armstrong, and D. Netzer. 1978. Pathogenic
races of the cucumber-wilt Fusarium. Plant Dis. Reporter. 62:824-828.
Growth of Host:
See inoculum distribution and delivery section. Water with tap
water or fertilizer daily. Photoperiod 12 hr. light, 12 hr. dark.
Tissue Age:
Seeds are sown in infested sand. See inoculum distribution and
delivery section.
Postinoculation Environment:
Place pans in Wisconsin temperature tanks. Sand temperature 28°C.
No light first 2 days to prevent drying.
Disease Response:
Plants are rated on a scale from 0 to 9 three weeks after inoculation.
0 = no symptoms
1 = hypocotyl browning, no wilt, no stunting
3 = cotyledon lesion, no wilt, no stunting
5 = slight wilt, stunted
7 = severe wilt, stunted
9 = dead
Plants rated 0 are classified as resistant, 1 or 3 as intermediate,
5, 7, or 9 as susceptible.
Multiple Inoculation:
No information. Experiments planned.
Saving Host:
Using this method resistant and possibly intermediate plants
can be transplanted to steam sterilized soil.
Paul H. Williams
Mary J. Palmer
Department of Plant Pathology
University of Wisconsin
10-11-82
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