pnut pnut Peanut Science 0095-3679 0095-3679 American Peanut Research and Education Society 10.3146/i0095-3679-5-2-8 Articles Sclerotinia Blight Development in Peanut Vines Injured by Tractor Tires1 D. M. Porter 2 and N. L. Powell 3 Plant Pathologist, FR, SEA, USDA, Tidewater Research and Continuing Education Center, Holland Station, Suffolk, Virginia 23437 Assistant Professor of Agronomy, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg 24061

1Cooperative investigations of Federal Research, Science and Education Administration, U. S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Agronomy, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Contribution No. 356, Department of Plant Pathology and Physiology, VPI & SU. Research supported in part by the NASA Wallops Flight Center (under NASA Contract No. NAS6 – 2388) the Virginia Agricultural Foundation, and the Virginia Peanut Growers Association, Inc.

 7 1978 5 2 87 90 5 7 1978 American Peanut Research and Education Society 1978 American Peanut Research and Education Society Abstract

Peanut plants injured by tractor tires during the application of pesticides were infected by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum more frequently than similar uninjured plants. Percentage of infection in injured plants was more than twice that in uninjured plants. Pod yields were less in injured plants infected with S. sclerotiorum than in uninjured plants infected with S. sclerotiorum. The relationship between tire injury and subsequent infection by S. sclerotiorum was clearly shown on aerial infrared photographs.

 Key Words Arachis hypogaea; , false color infrared photography; , groundnut; , soil-borne fungus; , predisposition; , wound-disease interaction