TITLE:
Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) Boll Rot and Associated Microorganisms in South Texas Fields
AUTHORS:
Greta Schuster, Enrique G. Medrano, Kendal Field-Huey
KEYWORDS:
Subtropical Agriculture, Cotton Varieties, Boll Rot, Bacterial Opportunist, Insect Vector
JOURNAL NAME:
Agricultural Sciences,
Vol.7 No.10,
October
27,
2016
ABSTRACT: A rise in cotton boll rot in south Texas has been generally associated with increased yield losses. Here, we measured boll rot incidence during two growing seasons (2011 and 2012) at a south Texas (Kleberg County) research farm Variety Trial and in producer fields. The Variety Trial was conducted to compare boll rot susceptibility between five current cultivars. The commercial fields surveyed were located along the Coastal Bend (Wharton County) and Rio Grande Valley regions (Cameron and Willacy Counties). Bolls with evidence of external damage potentially inflicted by piercing-sucking insect vectors were dissected for disease detection and plated for microorganism isolation and characterization. Microbial isolates were putatively identified based on standard fatty acid methyl ester profile analysis. In the Variety Trial, the highest incidence of disease occurred in July for both growing seasons, and significant differences in susceptibility to boll rot between cultivars were determined (P Bacillus spp. as a potential and prevalent causative agent(s).