Cephalosporium Stripe of Cereals

Cephalosporium stripe (fungus str ipe) is a vascular wi l ttype disease of wheat and barley, which also affects other cereals and grasses. l t is caused by the soifborne fungus Cephalosporium gramineum. ln autumn, the fungus produces millions of bacteria-sized spores (conidia), which are washed into the soil around the plant. These spores are the structures that will eventually infect the plant. Infection of the plant occurs through wounds in roots durjng the winter and early spring. Frozen soil in winter and frost heaving of soil in the spring cause the most serious wounds for infection. Once inside the plant, the fungus colonizes the xylem (water-cond ucting tissue) and slowly kills the plant. After the fungus has killed the plant, it survives inside the straw in the soil until the next crop. This fungus survives only in straw whlch it colonized while the plant was alive; the fungus does not colonize straw while it is decaying in the soil.