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What Causes Sclerotinia in Canola?

    Home Tech Bulletins What Causes Sclerotinia in Canola?
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    What Causes Sclerotinia in Canola?

    By 20/20 Seed Labs | Tech Bulletins, Tests for Common Diseases | Comments are Closed | 10 May, 2017 | 0
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    A fungus called Sclerotinia sclerotiorum causes this disease.

    Why Does it Matter?

    • Sclerotinia occurs on all canola growing regions and is the most economically significant disease of canola in Western Canada.
    • Yield loss. Depending on weather conditions, yield losses can be extremely high.
      A rule of thumb is that yield loss is about half of the percentage of infected plants in the field. A field with 20% infected plants, therefore, will result in a 10% yield loss.
    • Grade loss. Tolerances for sclerotinia are very low. Table 7 of the Canada Seed Act, which applies to mustard and canola, has a separate standard for sclerotia. When performing a purity analysis on the crop, sclerotial bodies are reported per 50 grams. The standards are as follows:

    Grade — Maximum number of
sclerotial bodies
per 50g

    Canada Foundation No. 1 — 1

    Canada Foundation No. 2 — 2

    Canada Registered No. 1 — 1

    Canada Registered No. 2 — 2

    Canada Certified No. 1 — 1

    Canada Certified No. 2 — 2

    Common grade — 2

    What are the Symptoms?

    • Onset of infection begins as water rot on stems and/or leaves.
    • On standing crops, look for light brown lesions on stems, branches and pods.
    • These lesions expand and become bleached-looking and may have concentric rings.
    • When lesions expand enough to girdle the stem, plants will wilt.
    • The bleached stems tend to shred and break at the base.
    • Hard, black overwintering bodies (sclerotia) form inside the infected stems and pods.

    What is the Disease Cycle?

    • The black sclerotia produced inside infected plants can live in the soil for at least 4 to 5 years.
    • Under suitable conditions the sclerotia germinate and produce tiny cup-shaped mushrooms (apothecia).
    • The apothecia produce thousands of air-borne spores that can be blown several kilometers into adjacent fields.
    • Sclerotia that form in infected seedpods closely resemble canola seed in size and shape and may be harvested with, and then planted with, the seed the following season.
    • The fungus may also be seed-borne.

    How is it Controlled?

    • Use good quality, clean seed that is free of sclerotia.
    • Observe crop rotations of at least 4 years and, if possible, do not include other susceptible crops such as pea, sunflower, mustard, lentil, bean chickpea, alfalfa, clover, carrot or potato.
    • Select varieties that have fewer flower petals and good lodging ratings.
    • Control volunteer canola and broadleaf weeds during rotations.
    • Remove sclerotia using a spiral spinner.
    • Deep burial of infected stubble (at least 8 cm).
    • Apply registered foliar fungicides at 10% to 50% bloom if a disease forecast warrants this procedure.

    How Does 20/20 Seed Labs Inc. Test for Sclerotinia in Canola?

    Purity test

    • 20/20 Seed Labs Inc. routinely checks for and reports the presence of sclerotia during a seed purity test

    Culture test

    • 200 seeds are surface sterilized to remove surface contaminants from the seed coat then placed on culture agar plates and incubated for 7 days.
    • A qualified staff member examines the plates for the presence of the Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. The type of mycelium produced and the presence of sclerotia forming on the plate identify this fungus.
    • This test gives the percentage of infected seeds to 0.5%.
    • This test takes 7 days to complete.

    Please contact us for more information.

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