Internal fruit rot, caused by Fusarium lactis, is as an important disease of greenhouse sweet pepper. Fungal growth was studied microscopically during anthesis and fruit development. Hyphae were observed on the stigmatal surface one day after inoculation (DAI), and in the transmitting tissues of the style and inside the ovary at 5 and 6 DAI. Symptomless seeds from infected fruits yielded colonies of F. lactis when cultured axenically, and typical disease symptoms were observed when fruits were dissected at 45 DAI. Isolates of F. lactis and the related species F. proliferatum and F. verticillioides, which are also associated with internal fruit rot, produced the mycotoxins beauvericin, moniliformin and fumonisin B1 in various combinations, both in infected fruits and in vitro. These findings suggest that internal fruit rot is initiated through infection of the stigma and style during anthesis, and that mycotoxin contamination of infected fruit could pose a health concern. / Plant Science

The fungal pathogen Bipolaris sorokiniana (teleomorph Cochliobolus sativus)causes the foliar disease spot blotch (SB) and the root disease common root rot (CRR). Spot blotch and CRR are serious disease constraints to barley production in warmer growing regions of the world, with estimated yield losses ranging from 30-70% from SB and 15-30% for CRR. Although chemical treatments may assist incontrolling spot blotch infections, the most effective and environmentally sound means of control for each disease is breeding for varieties with natural resistance. InAustralia, no commercially available varieties offer resistance to either SB or CRR. This study has sought to establish molecular markers that will be useful for selecting for resistance to each of these important fungal diseases.Barley cultivars derived from the breeding line NDB112 have provided durable SB resistance in the North Dakota region of the USA for over 40 years. The robustnessof this resistance had not been determined under Australian environmental conditions or with those B. sorokiniana pathotypes present within Australia. Toelucidate the genetics of resistance, two seedling and two field trials were conducted on an ND11231-12/VB9524 (ND/VB) doubled haploid (DH) population (180 lines).A molecular map of the ND/VB population was curated in order to provide a firm basis for mapping of resistance loci. Composite interval mapping revealed thatdifferent gene combinations are effective at different stages of plant development. Seedling resistance was found to be conditioned by a major locus on the short arm ofchromosome 7H and this region was validated in the related population ND11231-11/WI2875*17. A minor quantitative locus on chromosome 5HS was detected in one of the two seedling trials. However, this region requires further investigation to confirm its association to SB resistance in this population. Field resistance to SB in adult plants was found to be associated with two major quantitative trait loci (QTL)on chromosomes 7HS and 3HS; and a putative third minor QTL on chromosome 2HS. The 7H region is common between seedling and field resistance and is the most important locus for the expression of resistance at both stages of plant development. These findings largely concur with genetic studies of this trait in tworowed barley germplasm in North American environments.Common root rot is a difficult disease to phenotype for, and breeding programs will benefit from the identification of molecular markers linked to resistance. Data wasprovided from field trials of subsets of the population over four years. Using a novel approach combining the efficiency of bulked-segregant analysis with highthroughputDiversity Arrays Technology markers (BSA-DArT), CRR resistance was found to be conditioned by three putative QTL in an unmapped Delta/Lindwall population. QTL were identified on chromosomes 2HS, 4HS, and 7HS. To validatethe trait-linkage associations between the DArT markers and the CRR QTL,microsatellite (SSR) markers known to map to the regions identified by BSA-DArT were used. The 2H and 4H regions were validated using marker regression of the SSR markers in most seedling trials, whereas the 7H QTL, which is proximal to the location of the SB resistance QTL in the ND/VB population, was detected in only one seedling trial.The QTL identified in this study offer potential to combat the foliar and root diseases causes by this fungal pathogen. The chromosomal location of QTL for SB and CRR resistance have been found to differ in the ND/VB and D/L populations,which suggests that resistance to each disease is independently inherited. Further research is required to confirm the hypothesis that it is possible to combineresistance to both diseases into a single genotype. Such allelic combinations would provide elite germplasm that would benefit barley breeding programs world-wide.

Zugl.: Leipzig, Univ., Diss., 2008

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2004. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 148-159). Also available online.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 204-228). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1965. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2004. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 204-228). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Canterbury, 2009. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-130). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2008. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 159-167). Also available on the World Wide Web.