Diseases

Fusarium ear rot of maize

Zea mays L. subsp. Mays

A complex disease of maize caused by fungi of the genus Fusarium, manifesting as ear rot, seedling blight, as well as root and stalk rots.

In the reference 3 varieties crop Corn, where this is mentioned in the description.

The primary causal agent of the disease is Fusarium verticillioides, and the pathogenic complex also includes the species F. graminearum, F. proliferatum, F. subglutinans, F. culmorum, and F. poae. Symptoms of ear rot appear at the end of the milk or beginning of the dough stage as a white, pinkish, or pink-orange cottony mold; the kernels lose their luster, shrivel, and undergo decay.

Root and stalk rots develop after flowering, leading to premature wilting and lodging of plants due to the blackening of roots and the breakdown of stem parenchyma. Resistance of maize to these pathogens is polygenic and quantitative, controlled by multiple QTL loci, with breeding practices employing scoring scales for evaluating hybrid resistance rather than identifying specific genes.

General information about the subject — on the page Fusarium wilt and blight.

Sources8

Varieties of Corn mentioned in the description

Selection based on the description text, not on official evaluation: these data are absent from registers. For specific variety details, please refer to its profile.