Abstract |
A search was made for diseases of water weeds to use as biocontrol. Emphasis was placed on finding diseases of waterhyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), ALLIGATORWEED (Alternathera philoxeroides), hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata), and Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum). Foremost discoveries were: (1) A blight of waterhyacinth incited by Rhizoctonia solani in India, Panama, and Puerto Rico, (2) A zonate leaf spot of waterhyacinth incited by Cephalosporium zonatum, found in Florida and Louisiana and also in El Salvador, Puerto Rico and India, (3) A virus-induced stunting disease of alligatorweed from Florida, (4) A Pythium and Sclerotium incited blight of hydrilla and a Penicillium sp. that produces matabolites lysogenic to hydrilla, first ever recorded on hydrilla and (5) A root and crown disease of waterhyacinth of unknown cause in Florida. (Modified author abstract) |