Collar Rot of Safflower Caused by Sclerotium rolfsii

Sclerotium rolfsii에의한 잇꽃 흰비단병

A destructive collar rot of safflower occurred severely research farm of at Kyongsangnam-do Agricultural Research and Extension Services in 1999. Incidence of the disease at 3 fields in Chinju was ranged from 21.6 to 34.2% Upper parts of infected stems were mostly blighted and white mycelia were found on the lesions. The same fungus was isolated consistently from the infected tissues and confirmed its pathogenecity to safflower. The causal fungus of collar rot disease was identified as Sclerotium rolfsii by the examination of colony type sclerotium formation and pathogenicity test. This fungus also causes stem rot crown rot wilt or blight on the safflower. This is the first report on the collar rot of safflower caused by Sclerotium rolfsii in Korea.