Symptoms of Sclerotium rolfsii on Solanaceae

• Organs attacked :

Sclerotium rolfsii attacks all Solanaceae organs located in or near the soil, whether the plants are very young (in nurseries) or adult in the field.

• Symptoms :
  • Damp and dark lesion on the collar (particularly vulnerable) evolving into rot, and gradually encircling it over several centimeters. The tissues of the affected cortex brown more or less intensely and gradually decompose (figures 1 and 2). The underlying vascular tissues may turn brown (Figure 3).
  • Browning and root rot (Figures 4-6).
  • More or less reversible secondary leaf wilting, the plants regain their usual turgidity during the night (figure 7). During high temperatures, the wilting is brutal and complete, the plants end up drying out (figure 8).
  • Large moist and soft lesions on leaves and fruits in contact with the ground (figures 9 and 10).
  • Focus distribution of diseased plants.

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• Signs : dense whitish mycelium covering the damaged organs (figures 11 and 12). Smooth structures, rather spherical (1 to 3 mm in diameter), initially white, then tawny to reddish brown, gradually visible within the mycelium: sclerotia resembling mustard seeds. (figure 13)

• Possible confusion : Rhizoctonia solani , Oomycetes ( Pythium and Phytophthora spp.),

• Affected production areas :