THE TAKE-ALL DISEASE OF CEREALS AND GRASSES 

 CAUSED BY OPHIOBOLUS CARICETI 

 (BERKELEY AND BROOME) SACCARDO 1 



Robert S. Kirby 



This disease, long known in Europe, Japan, and Australia, was first 

 correctly reported from America in 1920 (Kirby and Thomas, 1920). 

 Reports of the finding of take-all in Illinois appeared as early as 1919 

 (Humphrey and Johnson, 1919, and Humphrey, Johnson, and McKinney, 

 1921) but this was a case of mistaken identity, further investigations 

 (McKinne} 7 , 1923) having shown that disease to be distinct from take- 

 all. It is now known as the rosette disease of wheat. 



Because of the severity of take-all in certain foreign countries, much 

 concern has been expressed lest it appear in the United States and cause 

 heavy losses to cereals. Since the value of wheat, oats, rye, and barley 

 in the State of New York in 1919, according to the fourteenth census, 

 was equal to about that of one-ninth of all crops grown, or nearly equal 

 to the value of the fruit or the potato crop in the State, the discovery of 

 the disease here seemed to warrant a careful study of its distribution and 

 severity under New York State conditions. The present investigations 

 cover a period of four years during which time the disease has been studied 

 in the field and greenhouse. 



HOST RANGE 



As far as is known, take-all is restricted to the Gramineae. An exami- 

 nation of the data given in table 1 shows that of the two subfamilies of 

 the Gramineae, fewer members of the Panicoideae appear to be subject 

 to the disease than of the Poacoideae. Of these species which were 

 investigated, two out of fourteen in the Panicoideae, and eighty-three out 

 of one hundred and forty-two in the Poacoideae, are susceptible. In the 

 Panicoideae, susceptible species are found in only one of the three tribes 

 investigated; in the Poacoideae all of the seven tribes tested contain forms 

 liable to infection. 



The tribe Hordeae seems to contain more susceptible species than any 

 other tribe in the Gramineae. The other tribes, arranged according to 

 the number of susceptible species in them, are as follows: Agrostidae, 

 Festuceae, Phalarideae, Avenae, Oryzeae, Paniceae, and Chlorideae. 



In no tribe were all of the species found to be susceptible, but all of 

 the species inoculated in a few of the genera — Agropyron, Elymus, 



1 Also presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University, June, 1923, as a major 

 thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy. 



Author's acknowledgment. The author wishes to express his thanks to Professors H. H. Whetzel, 

 M. F. Barrus, and W. H. Burkholder, for assistance and suggestions in the preparation of the manuscript. 



