Effects of Temperature and Water Potential on the Ability of Fusarium Strains from Die-off Soils to cause Cheatgrass Seed Mortality

Authors

Samuel Saunders, Brigham Young University
Travis Poh, Brigham Young University
Dr. Bradley Geary, Brigham Young University

Keywords

temperature, water, fusarium strains, die-off soils, cheatgrass seed mortality

College

Life Sciences

Department

Plant and Wildlife Sciences

Abstract

Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) is a highly flammable invasive annual grass that dominates millions of acres of the Great Basin. A common phenomenon in cheatgrass monocultures is die-off or stand failure (Baughman and Meyer in press). Fungal isolates of the genus Fusarium are frequently cultured from dead cheatgrass seeds in die-off areas and may be an important cause of stand failure (Franke et al. in draft), and making Fusarium fungi a potential biocontrol agent against cheatgrass. In a previous study, the plant pathology lab at BYU found that this pathogen could cause high mortality when seeds were held under water stress at 250C (summer conditions), and that pathogen strains varied in their ability to kill seeds. My purpose in the present study was to investigate whether this pathogen could cause seed mortality under the autumn and winter temperature regimes that usually prevail during precipitation events that could trigger pathogen attack.

Recommended Citation

Saunders, Samuel; Poh, Travis; and Geary, Dr. Bradley (2014) "Effects of Temperature and Water Potential on the Ability of Fusarium Strains from Die-off Soils to cause Cheatgrass Seed Mortality," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2014: Iss. 1, Article 925.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2014/iss1/925