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The vicious cycle of lettuce corky root disease: effects of farming system, nitrogen fertilizer and herbicide

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Abstract

Aims

This study was aimed at testing the hypothesis that lettuce corky root (CR) disease caused by Rhizorhapis suberifaciens was less severe in organic than conventional farms, due to the absence of herbicide and fertilizer, and greater soil microbial activity in organic farms.

Methods

CR severity and soil quality were assessed in pairs of conventional and organic farms in California. To determine factors contributing to CR, effects of N fertilizer and pronamide herbicide were assessed on CR severity and plant weight in separate field experiments.

Results

CR was significantly more severe in conventional than organic farms, and there was a negative exponential relationship between CR severity and microbial activity. Split applications of soluble N fertilizer enhanced susceptibility to CR compared to pre-plant application of slow release N fertilizer. Pronamide increased disease severity on seedlings compared to untreated controls and reduced the dry weights of seedlings and mature heads.

Conclusions

Conventional practices, like fertilizer and herbicide use, increase plant susceptibility to and reduce microbial competition or antibiosis against R. suberifaciens in conventional lettuce production farms, potentially leading to enhanced environmental pollution due to a decrease in nutrient use efficiency and an increased need for fertilizer and water for diseased plants.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Niklaus J. Grünwald for assistance with the surveys in conventional and organic lettuce farms in California. We are grateful to Art Greathead, Phil Brown, Jonathan Becker, Mark Bergtholdt and Pauline Sanders for their help with the nitrogen and herbicide experiments. This research was partially funded by the California Iceberg Lettuce Research and Advisory Board. Additional funding came from several USDA-NRICGP grants (‘Decomposition of plant residues and suppression of root diseases’, ‘Oligotrophic bacteria and root disease suppression’, and ‘Transition from conventional to low-input or organic farming systems: Soil biology and soil fertility’).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Pathology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Ariena H. C. van Bruggen & Isolde M. Francis

  2. Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Ariena H. C. van Bruggen & Randy Krag

  3. Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Ariena H. C. van Bruggen

  4. Beckstoffer Vineyards, Red Hills, Kelseyville, CA, 95451, USA

    Randy Krag

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  1. Ariena H. C. van Bruggen
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  2. Isolde M. Francis
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Correspondence to Ariena H. C. van Bruggen.

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van Bruggen, A.H.C., Francis, I.M. & Krag, R. The vicious cycle of lettuce corky root disease: effects of farming system, nitrogen fertilizer and herbicide. Plant Soil 388, 119–132 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-014-2312-5

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