Potato coiled sprout in relation to seed tuber storage treatment and to infection by Verticillium nubilum Pethybr

Inoculation of seed potato tubes with Verticillium nubilum produced infection on the underground stem bases to subsequent growth in the form of brown lesions, often accompanied by longitudinal or transverse cracking. Some inoculation tests provided further evidence of a causal relationship between infection with V. nubilum and coiled sprout, but it was not possible to define the conditions in which the fungus gave rise to coiling. Seed tubers sprouted in light before planting produced more coiling than unsprouted or desprouted tubers. Sprouting had this effect whether V. numbilum was present or not and coiling induced by sprouting and that induced by V. nubilum occurred independently. The increased coiling of stem bases from sprouted tubers was often accompanied by fasciation, whereas this symptom was not usually associated with the coiling from unsprouted or desprouted seed tubers inoculated with the fungus. Brown lesions associated with V. nubilum were readily distinguishable from those of Rhizoctonia solani but not from those caused by Oospora pustulans. Neither of these fungi was found to cause coiling. Different varieties of potatoes showed differences in the incidence of coiling in response to sprouting treatment. There was no apparent differences in varietal response to infection by V. nubilum.