Evaluating the Reaction of Peach Cultivars to Infection by Three Botryosphaeria Species

Abstract

Two field experiments were conducted to assess peach (Prurus persica L.) cultivar susceptibility to the three Botryosphaeria spp. that cause peach tree fungal gummosis. Inoculated trees were evaluated for disease severity by rating gum exudation, vascular discoloration, and fungal colonization. Each severity measurement yielded a different rank ordering of cultivars for susceptibility. However, in a greenhouse study, these same measurements gave consistent rankings for aggressiveness of the fungal species on `Blake'. Despite large differences in disease severity in the greenhouse study, none of the severity measures were correlated with tree growth after inoculation. The only factor significantly correlated with growth rate of the trees after inoculation was growth rate before inoculation.