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Pests and Diseases

Sclerotinia Stem Rot

Fungal Diseases of Crops

A fungal disease (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum), also called white mold, with one of the broadest host ranges of any plant pathogen, attacking soybean, canola, sunflower, dry beans and hundreds of other broadleaf crops and producing a bleached, water-soaked stem rot covered in cottony white fungal growth. It survives between crops as hard, black resting structures called sclerotia that can persist in soil for many years, and it is a leading cause of yield loss in soybean and canola production across North America, Europe and China, particularly in cool, humid growing seasons.

Facts
Classification
Agent Kind
Fungus 1
Connections

Associated With

Rapeseed, Crops

Sclerotinia stem rot is described by the Canola Council of Canada as the most destructive disease of rapeseed/canola in North America (confirmed by web search this session).

Sources
1. Sclerotinia Stem Rot (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Opening definition paragraph
    Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a plant pathogenic fungus and can cause a disease called white mold if conditions are conducive. S. sclerotiorum can also be known as cottony rot, watery soft rot, stem rot, drop, crown rot and blossom blight. A key characteristic of this pathogen is its ability to produce black resting structures known as sclerotia and white fuzzy growths of mycelium on the plant it infects.
  • lead description
    A fungal disease (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum), also called white mold, with one of the broadest host ranges of any plant pathogen, attacking soybean, canola, sunflower, dry beans and hundreds of other broadleaf crops and producing a bleached, water-soaked stem rot covered in cottony white fungal growth.
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