Survival, Germinability and Infectivity of Oospores of Peronospora viciae f.sp. fabae

Abstract A series of experiments was conducted to germinate oospores of Peronospora viciae f.sp. fabae. With rare exceptions, dry‐stored oospores did not germinate in water nor did they infect faba bean seedlings in soil. Long‐term storage, pre‐treatment with KMnO4 or addition of nutrients to the medium did not induce germination. Survival and infectivity of dry‐stored oospores were compared to those of oospores incorporated in a silt loam and a loamy sand soil in the field during 21–22 months. Under dry conditions, the percentage of living oospores did not change as determined by the vital stain tetrazolium bromide. In soil, less than 2% of the oospores had survived after 21 months. Infectivity of oospores was determined by a bioassay 17 and 21 months after oospores had been incorporated in soil. Diseased seedlings were obtained after inoculation of faba bean seeds with oospores extracted from the soil but not with the drystored ones. Soil samples from two field plots naturally infested with oospores 2 and 3 years before the bioassay were infective. Oospores collected with diseased plant material on one of these plots and subsequently stored dry for 3 years were not infective. The results suggested that oospores need a period of natural weathering to become germinable and infective.