Speckled snow mold, caused by Typhula ishikariensis, is one of the most important Typhula snow molds in subarctic zones of the Northern Hemisphere. Nine isolates of three T. ishikariensis varieties (var. ishikariensis, var. canadensis, and var. idahoensis) isolated from infected turfgrasses on golf course fairways throughout Wisconsin were evaluated for their aggressiveness toward nine cultivars of three bentgrass species (three creeping, three colonial, and three velvet cultivars) under controlled environmental conditions. Speckled snow mold severity increased as inoculum concentration of T. ishikariensis was increased. In general, bentgrass susceptibility increased between 9 and 11 weeks after seeding but gradually decreased thereafter, suggesting expression of age-related resistance as plants matured. Significant differences in aggressiveness were detected within and among T. ishikariensis varieties. Significant interactions between T. ishikariensis varieties or isolates and bentgrass species were detected, but there was no interaction between pathogen isolates and bentgrass cultivars. Disease severity evaluations showed significant differences among bentgrass cultivars and species in their response to T. ishikariensis. Since bentgrass species exhibit differential responses to T. ishikariensis varieties, representative isolates of each variety should be employed for screening of bentgrass germplasm for resistance to speckled snow mold.

Typhula incarnata, the causal agent of gray snow mold, is an important winter pathogen of turfgrasses in the northern United States. The relative susceptibility of cultivars of three bent-grass species (creeping, colonial, and velvet bentgrass) to Typhula incarnata and the aggressiveness of 15 T. incarnata isolates obtained from infected turfgrasses on golf courses in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin were evaluated under controlled conditions. A hypersensitive type of resistance response to T. incarnata was not observed in any cultivar. Disease severity increased with higher inoculum concentration of T. incarnata. Colonization by gray snow mold gradually decreased with increasing plant age from 11 weeks after seeding in most cultivars tested, suggesting that age-related resistance was expressed over time. There were significant differences in disease severity among the three bentgrass species, particularly between tetraploid (creeping and colonial) and diploid (velvet) species, and among cultivars within each species, indicating varying levels of susceptibility to T. incarnata. All 15 isolates were pathogenic on bentgrass and were significantly different in aggressiveness, but aggressiveness was not related to geographic origin. Therefore, turfgrass breeders should be able to use one or a few virulent representative isolates of the pathogen to screen for resistance.

Pink snow mold, caused by Microdochium nivale, is a major disease on cool season turfgrasses in golf courses in northern Unites States. The relative susceptibility of 17 commercial cultivars of three bentgrass species (creeping, colonial and velvet bentgrass) to Microdochium nivale and the aggressiveness of M. nivale eight isolates obtained from infected turfgrasses on golf courses in Wisconsin were evaluated under controlled conditions. For the field trial, susceptibility of 2 year-old 12 commercial bentgrass cultivars was evaluated after inoculating three M. nivale isolates in the fields. There were significant differences in disease severities among the three bentgrass species, particularly between tetraploids (creeping and colonial) and diploid (velvet) species, and among cultivars within each species, indicating that there are varying levels of susceptibility in species and cultivars to M. nivale. Host resistance by days of cold hardening was confirmed, by detecting the resistance by 30 days of cold hardening treatments. In field trial, susceptibility of 12 bentgrass cultivars was highly correlated to the results obtained from growth chamber experiments. The positive correlation of the susceptibility between growth chamber experiments and field trials demonstrates that the growth chamber method is a useful technique for saving time, space and labor to evaluate efficiently pink snow mold susceptibility of bentgrass cultivars. This study could be applied to evaluating susceptibility of bentgrass to pink snow mold and also predicting a prospective evaluation of bentgrass cultivars to pink snow mold in fields in a breeding program.

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