Short communication: Virulence of different isolates causing verticillium wilt of pepper in the Padrón region

Abstract

A survey of verticillium wilt of pepper was carried out in farms of the Padrón region, including both greenhouses andfields. Pepper plants cv. Padrón showing wilt symptoms were collected in three successive sampling sessions performedfrom May to October 1997. A total number of 79 isolates of Verticillium dahliae Kleb were obtained. The high frequencyof farms with plants infected with V. dahliae, especially at the end of the crop season, was related to a high persistenceof the fungus during the whole of the 1990s. Twenty-two isolates were tested for pathogenicity, and all of them were ableto induce wilting in cv. Padrón pepper plants. Dry weight and stem length data of inoculated plants showed that there wasa high variability in the virulence of the isolates tested, and significant differences were observed among them.