ISHS Acta Horticulturae 510: VII Eucarpia Meeting on Cucurbit Genetics and Breeding
COMPARISON OF LEAF-AREA INDEX WITH ROOT WEIGHT FOR ASSESSING PLANT DAMAGE BY SOIL-BORNE PATHOGENS |
| Authors: | M. Biernacki, Benny D. Bruton |
| Keywords: | Acremonium cucurbitacearum, Cucumis melo, image analysis, Monosporascus cannonballus, Rhizopycnis vagum |
| Abstract:
‘Hymark’ and ‘Mission’ melons (Cucumis melo) were grown in growth chambers over 4 weeks in sand inoculated with the soil-borne pathogens Monosporascus cannonballus, Acremonium cucurbitacearum, or Rhizopycnis vagum. Quantitative information on plant characteristics and biomass was collected from destructively sampled plants. Leaf-surface area and root mass decreased in plants proportionally with disease severity. Both the leaf-area index and the root mass were significantly correlated with disease severity index. However, leaf-area index was 3.5 times more precise and more likely to reflect damage to plant roots than shift in root mass. Leaf-area index was capable of detecting significant differences in root damage even in cases where root-mass measures failed to do so. The leaf area index is particularly suitable for non-destructive, continuous evaluation of plant impairment. Standardized to common scale, quantitative assessment of plant impairment using leaf area index has great potential as a tool for precise and accurate assessment of plant resistance and/or pathogen virulence. The index may facilitate spatial and temporal comparisons and meta-analyses of data for cucurbits. | |
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