Fungitoxic properties of an antibiotic against dutch elm disease

A formulation containing solubilized Nystatin called Ceratocide, is fungitoxic to Ceratocystis ulmi (Buis.) Moreau as shown in laboratory studies. In controlled inoculations studies in eight-year-old elm saplings, Ceratocide was shown to have prophylactic utility in Dutch elm disease control when injected 2, 4 or 10 days before a challenge inoculation with C. ulmi. Therapeutic control was not obtained with a single injection of Ceratocide. Most infected trees succumbed to Dutch elm disease either during the same year of treatment or a year later.