Sunday, December 18, 2011

What is Verticillium

Verticillium is a genus of fungi in the division Ascomycota, and are an anamorphic form of the Plectosphaerellaceae family.
The genus used to include diverse groups comprising saprobes and parasites of higher plants, insects, nematodes, mollusc eggs and other fungi thus it can be seen that the genus used to have a wide ranging group of taxa characterised by simple but ill-defined characters.
The genus, currently thought to contain 51 species, may be broadly divided into three ecologically based groups 1) mycopathogens 2) entomopathogens  and 3) plant pathogens and related saprotrophs.
However, recently the genus has undergone some revision into which most entomopathogenic and mycopathogenic isolates fall into a new group called Lecanicillium. The discoloration varies with the tree species. In maples and smoketree, it is grayish-green to olive-green; in black locust, it is brown to black; in elm, it is brown; and in northern catalpa, it is purple to bluish brown.
The genus now includes the plant pathogenic species V. dahliae, V. albo-atrum, V. nubilium, and V. tricorpus. Verticillium species cause discolored streaks in the sapwood that run parallel to the grain of the wood and commonly extend from the roots into the branches.
Verticillium wilt is a serious vascular wilt disease that affects a broad array of shade tree species. The fungi that cause Verticillium wilt, Verticillium albo-atrum and V. dahliae, are soil-borne and infect through the radicals. They can gradually become systemic in the tree. Incoming a rake cut down the discoloration appears as spots or partial to complete rings in one or more growth rings (Fig. 2). These fungi are capable of attacking over 130 different species of shade and ornamental trees, food and fiber crops, and herbaceous ornamentals. Streaking may or may not be found in affected branches, and observation of the wood in or near the root system may embody required. Positive confirmation can be made only by laboratory culture of symptomatic wood samples. Because these kingdom Fungi are soil-borne and can infect so many different plant species, Verticillium wilt is difficult to assure.
More about: Buy Verticillium

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