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Summary
In 1957 and 1958 a survey was made of the seed-borne infection of Phoma lingam in swede, turnip, chou moellier, rape, and kale seeds. Of the 263 seed samples tested, 223 were free from seed infection. Most of the samples with diseased seed had less than 0.1 % infection. Details are given of a technique for detecting seed-borne infection of P. lingam in brassicas. The seeds were surface sterilised and placed on tap-water agar in petri dishes with 2,000 p.p.m. acid equivalent of 2,4-D in the medium, and the dishes incubated at 23°C for 12 days.
Approximately half the infected seeds did not germinate. Most of the seed infection was transmitted in the smallest seeds, and many of these were removed during seed-cleaning operations. The fungus remained viable in stored seed for about 14 months, beginning to die after 8 months storage.
The importance of seed-borne infection for primary spread of the pathogen is not supported by experimental work described, and airborne infection is suggested as a new approach for further investigational work on the primary spread of P. lingam.