FAQ - Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology | Montana State University

Q1. Why is testing for seedborne diseases important to me?

Testing seed is important in order to prevent low-quality seed from being planted, to alert the grower of diseases to be aware of during the growing season, and to provide an opportunity to manage seedborne fungal plant diseases using seed treatment fungicides.

Q2. What are the important seedborne pathogens of pulses?

Fungal Pathogens:

Ascochyta complex. A complex of fungal species causes the disease known as ‘Ascochyta blight.’ These pathogens cause lesions on all parts of the plant and disease can lead to defoliation, stem breakage, empty pods, shrunken and discolored seeds, etc., yield loss and poor seed quality. Chickpea is the most susceptible pulse crop to Ascochyta blight. Ascochyta pathogens are host species-specific, so Ascochyta on a chickpea cannot infect peas or lentils.

Botrytis species. This pathogen causes grey mold and can be long-lived in residue and soil. It shows up most often in the RPCDL in chickpea seed.

Colletotrichum species. This pathogen causes anthracnose. This disease looks similar to Ascochyta blight, but the pathogen tends to infect at higher temperatures. Lentil varieties can be very susceptible.

Sclerotinia species. This fungal species causes white mold and stem rot. The pathogen is very long-lived in soil.

Stemphylium species. This pathogen causes late-season leaf blight. The disease can decrease seed quality. Stemphylium can be particularly problematic in lentil.

The RPCDL has previously tested for other fungal pathogens, including Alternaria and Fusarium. These were dropped from our detection program: Alternaria is typically not a pathogen of concern, and there is currently insufficient evidence to suggest that Fusarium infection of the seed can be passed to a seedling.

Bacterial Pathogens

Bacterial blight agents. Pseudomonas syringae pv pisi, and pv syringae (field pea and lentil). These bacterial pathogens cause water-soaked lesions on stems and lower leaves. Lesion can girdle stem and lead to lodging of above plants, reduced yield, and seed quality. Symptoms most often occur following hail or wind-driven rain.

Viral pathogens

Pea seedborne mosaic virus (⁵PSbMV). This virus affect peas and causes banding of seeds, cracking of seed coat, reduced seed size, stunting of plants, poor seed quality and yield reduction.

Nematodes

Ditylenchus species (stem and bulb nematodes) and Heterodera species (pea cyst nematodes).

Pulse seeds for export to India and some other countries require seed to be tested for these seedborne or seed-contaminating nematodes. Seed lots must have a phytosanitary certificate prior to receipt by the country. If you have questions about the phytosanitary process, contact your Department of Agriculture. Information on exports in Montana can be found at: https://agr.mt.gov/Topics/E-G/Export-Pages/Export-Certification-Phytosanitary-Certificate.

Q3. Which test package should I order?

Ascochyta-Plus Package. This is the most commonly ordered test package, especially for growers who are replanting seed. It which includes tests for the fungal pathogens listed in Section 2a, above.
Smart-V and Smart-B Packages. If you have observed mosaic or yellowing symptoms on your plants in your fields during the growing season, we recommend the Smart-V(irus) test. The Smart Package includes all the fungal tests in the Ascochyta-Plus Package and the Pea seedborne mosaic virus (PSbMV). The Smart-B(acteria) Package includes an Ascochyta-Plus test, and tests for bacterial blight agents; this is ideal if a hail event has resulted in water-soaked brown lesions on plants. Please note that we do not accept Smart-B tests during Sample Rush season, from February through March, due to the overwhelming quantity of other tests being conducted at that time.
Comprehensive Package. If you had observed mosaic symptoms on your plants, had hail damage, or you want most information of the health status of your seed, we recommend this test package. It includes an Ascochyta-Plus test, a virus (PSbMV) test, and a test for bacterial blight agents. Please note that we do not accept Comprehensive tests during Sample Rush season, from February through March, due to the overwhelming quantity of other tests being conducted at that time.
Nematode test. If you are exporting pulse crops to India or Pakistan, ask for Nematode test.
Individual pathogen test. We also test for individual pathogens, such as Bacterial Blight (no Ascochyta-Plus) or virus testing.

Q4. How long does the test take?

The Ascochyta-Plus and Smart-V test packages generally take 7-10 days to complete after the RPCDL has received the seed sample. However, during our busiest sample season (typically February and March), wait times may increase to, or exceed, 2 weeks due to the number of samples the lab receives daily. .

The Smart-B and Comprehensive Packages take 2 weeks after the RPCDL has received the sample, as bacterial blight testing is time- and labor-intensive. Please note that no Smart-B or Comprehensive tests are accepted during our busiest sample season, from February to March, as we are quite busy with Ascochyta-Plus tests at that time.

Q5. What seed treatment fungicides are available for use in pulses?

A list of registered seed treatment fungicides (See table on page 8) and ¹²foliar fungicides are available as part of a collaborative effort of the Western Region and Northcentral Region Integrated Pest Management Center’s Pulse Crop Working Groups. The Table of seed treatment fungicides is on the next page.

There are no chemical treatments for bacterial, viral, or nematode pathogen management. List will be regularly updates as more fungicides become registered. If any company has a list of registered fungicides for the treatment of seedborne fungi of pulse crop not in the list, please contact:

Mary Burrows,

MSU Extension Plant Pathologist

Tel: 406-994-7766

E-mail: mburrows@montana.edu

See the next page for the list of registered fungicide.

Q6. What is the threshold for these diseases?

A ‘threshold’ is a term used when a certain amount of damage can be sustained by a crop with no observable yield losses. When a pest (insect, disease, and weed) exceeds that ‘threshold’ a treatment decision needs to be made. This decision is made based on the goals of the producer including economics, agronomic management practice options, pesticide availability, pesticide efficacy, etc. (Burrows et al, 2016). Thresholds are commonly used for insect damage and include the number of insects observed, measurement of loss of leaf area due to feeding damage, etc.

For plant diseases, threshold values are complicated by a number of factors including the strain of the pathogen, its aggressiveness on the host or susceptibility of the host to the pathogen, and, most importantly, the environment during the growing season. ‘Rule of thumb’ thresholds are well established for Ascochyta blight, but even these thresholds are based on limited field data. Any observed disease level must also consider the host and environment before a treatment decision is made. For example, a seed lot may contain high levels of Ascochyta blight above the recommended threshold but no disease may be observed during the field season if the environmental conditions are not conducive to disease development (and vice versa). In addition, the crop host and timing of symptom development may influence your treatment decisions. For example, in chickpeas any identification of Ascochyta must be quickly acted upon due to the high susceptibility of most varieties; in pea and lentil treatment may not be needed based on the timing relative to crop maturity, host resistance and weather when the disease is observed.

When you receive your seed test and it is positive for a fungal pathogen, learn more about that pathogen using resources available [insert more links to resources below]. Learn how to recognize that disease in case it may be an issue in your field during the field season, and get the disease accurately identified before choosing your best management strategy. Always use a fungicide seed treatment as a best management practice, and ensure the product you choose is labelled for management of the disease carried on your seed to reduce the chance of seed to seedling transmission.

Due to the high demand for threshold values and lack of supporting research data, we hesitate to recommend any threshold for the use of seed. However, recommended ‘action’ thresholds have been published from ¹³Canadian source. If % of pathogen infection of your seed exceed that of the thresholds in the table below, treat seed with appropriate fungicides (for fungal infection). There are no seed treatments for bacterial or virus pathogens. The best management practice is to assess your risk and planting situation before making a planting decision, and to monitor for these diseases during the field season.

	Pathogen Test	Pathogen Threshold for Pulses
	Alternaria (Alternaria blight)	Not available.(C, L, P). Suggestion: 15%
Fungi	Ascochyta (Ascochyta blight)	C = 0%; L & P = 5%
	Botrytis (gray mold)	0.5% Low risk areas ; 0.1% high risk areas (C, L, P)
	Colletrotrichum (Anthracnose)	Not available. (C, L, P): Suggestion: 0.5%
	Fusarium (wilt and root rot)	Not available. Suggestion: 5% (C, L, P)
	Sclerotina (white mold)	Not available. Suggestion: 0.5% (C, L, P)
	Stemphylium (Stemphylium blight)	Not available. Suggestion: 5% (C, L, P)
Viruses	Pea enation mosaic virus (PEMV)	0.5% Low risk areas ; 0.1% high risk areas (C, L, P)
Viruses	Pea seeborne mosaic virus (PSbMV)	0.5% Low risk areas ; 0.1% high risk areas (C, L, P)
Bacteria	Pseudomonas syringae pv pisi & P.s. pv syringae	0.1% Low risk areas ; 0% high risk areas (L, F)
	Xanthomonas campestris pv. cassiae	0.1% Low risk areas; 0% high risk areas (C.)

Q7. What do my results mean?

If your samples contain pathogens two times or more above thresholds (if available), the decision to treat seeds or use pathogen-free seeds is left to the growers. Consider the costs of seed treatments, fungicide efficacy deficiencies, and getting pathogen-free seeds before making such decision.

Q8. If my seed has Ascochyta blight, can I plant it?

Given the difficulty in setting threshold values for plant diseases, it is hard to give recommendations about ‘what percent is too high’ when planting Ascochyta blight (AB) infected seed. If a seed lot contains AB pathogens above the threshold, it can still be planted with a seed treatment effective on AB, but the crop must be monitored for disease symptoms and action taken if needed. In the case of infected seed, two corners of the disease triangle, susceptible host and pathogen, are present, but that third corner, the ‘environment’ will determine whether disease develops or not. The exception to this case is that chickpea cannot be sold as seed if there is any AB pathogen found due to the high susceptibility of the host. This is an industry regulation.