Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L & Lamb) is an important crop for Uruguay, both for the number of producers participating in its production and the per capita consumption of the population. It is harvested between January and April, and it is commercialized after a conservation period that lasts until November. During this period some losses happen due to bad conservation, most of them for microbiological causes. One of the main problems is a dry, superficial, rounded, and slightly sunken rot that as elapses it can increase its size and eventually mummify the root. To identify the causative agent of these injuries, a directed sampling was conducted, and the samples were sent to the Diagnostic Clinic of the Phytopathology Unit of the Agronomy Faculty. Fungi with Fusarium oxysporum characteristic was frequently isolated from roots showing initial rot symptoms and its identity verified by morphological and molecular techniques. Pathogenicity tests were performed and, once the symptom was recorded, the causal relationship of F. oxysporum with respect to the observed symptoms was verified accomplishing Koch’s Postulates. This result contributes to the knowledge of the disease and to adapt management practices to reduce losses and the commercial quality of sweet potato in local conditions.

In the last few years, the interest in keeping the city trees healthy has increased in order to improve their survival and minimize claims due to potential accidents. The pest and diseases, the pollution, and the climate change together with the little genetic diversity of trees in urban areas are some of the factors that contribute to increase the likelihood of death and/or failure of trees in the cities. This work is part of a sanitary and risk of failure assessment of plane street trees (Platanus x acerifolia) carried out between 2019 and 2020. A random sample of 10 city blocks and their 193 plane trees was selected. In these, the presence of cankers, abnormal bark colorations, deformations, and a series of structural attributes that determine likelihood of failure variables were registered. The proportion of individuals with each symptom and the severity main index (SMI) were calculated as a weighted average of the different severity (SEV) levels in the total of evaluated plants. The severity indices were determined according to trunk or branches circumference and the portion of the tree affected (1st, 2nd or 3rd portion from the base). Deformations presented the main incidence (0.6), SMI (1.68) and a correlation with the presence of damages and human injuries. The presence of cankers and reddish bark were the symptoms that most affected the density of the crowns.