Pathogenicity of Pythium torulosum to roots of Agrostis palustris in black-layered sand produced by the interaction of the cyanobacteria species Lyngbya, Phormidium, and Nostoc with Desulfovibrio desulfuricans
Studies were initiated to determine the pathogenicity of Pythium torulosum to Agrostis palustris roots growing in sand with subsurface black layer produced by the interaction of cyanobacteria and the sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio desulfuricans. The interaction of P. torulosum with cyanobacteria and D. desulfuricans was also evaluated. Pythium torulosum decreased the dry weight of roots and shoots of A. palustris to 41 and 35%, respectively, of the control plants in the absence of black layer and the organisms responsible for its formation. The combination of P. torulosum and D. desulfuricans, in the absence of black layer, induced the most severe decrease in root (20% of controls) and shoot (25% of controls) dry weights. Damage to roots induced by P. torulosum in combination with various isolates of cyanobacteria, in the absence of black layer, was equal to that of P. torulosum alone; shoot dry weight loss was less than that caused by P. torulosum alone. Pathogenicity of P. torulosum to roots when combined with cyanobacteria and D. desulfuricans in the presence of black layer was the same as that with P. torulosum alone and in combination with cyanobacteria; shoot dry weight did not differ from that of P. torulosum combined with cyanobacteria. The presence of cyanobacteria with P. torulosum and D. desulfuricans in black-layered sand decreased root and shoot dry weight loss induced by the two latter organisms. Key words: anaerobic, black plug layer, golf greens, sulfate reduction.