Inhibition of germination of sphacelial conidia of Claviceps africana following treatment of seed-sphacelia admixtures with captan
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To assess the inhibitory effect of captan towards Claviceps africana conidia from sphacelia/sclerotia in seed admixtures, fresh sphacelia were washed, air-dried, mixed with sorghum seed. Captan was applied at 94 g a.i/100 kg seed. A red colorant was included with captan or was used alone as a control. Sphacelia were retrieved and intact sphacelia, or the central core tissues resulting from trimming, were plated in groups of 10 onto Kirchoff's agar. A drop of water was added to promote honeydew leaching and samples were incubated at 20C overnight. Secondary conidiation per sphacelium or core was evaluated on a 0-3 scale; germination incidence (percentage of total number with any associated secondary conidiation) was also calculated. Secondary conidiation per sphacelium was significantly inhibited in the captan-treated sphacelia, with the mean just below the experimental threshold of detection. Captan treatment also significantly reduced the proportion of sphacelia with germination. 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.