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Abstract
The influence of nutrient solutions containing low (25 mg/1) and high (250 mg/1) calcium (Ca) concentrations on the total lipid, free sterol, sterol glycoside and steryl ester content and on the subsequent susceptibility of three flue‐cured tobacco cultivars to black shank, incited by Phytophthora parasitica var. nicotianae was investigated. The total lipid, total sterol and free sterol content differed appreciably among root systems of the three cultivars grown at high Ca. Roots of plants grown at low Ca contained relatively higher proportions of steryl glycosides and lower proportions of free sterols than roots of plants grown at high Ca, although the absolute sterol concentrations also differed significantly among the roots of cultivars grown at low Ca. Black shank disease development was significantly lower in roots of susceptible plants grown at low Ca than in roots of the same cultivar grown at high Ca. The innate susceptibility of the cultivars were not related to the lipid or sterol content. The reduced disease development of plants grown at low Ca appeared to be associated with changes in membrane permeability, which may be correlated with changes in the various sterol fractions.