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This paper reports the effect of twice-ambient (700 ppm) atmospheric CO2 concentration on infection, disease development, spore production and dispersal of the anthracnose pathogen Colletotrichum gloeosporioides in susceptible (Fitzroy) and partially resistant (Seca) cultivars of the tropical pasture legume Stylosanthes scabra under controlled environment and field conditions. Reduction in plant height due to anthracnose was partially compensated for by growth enhancement at elevated CO2 in Fitzroy but not in Seca. Anthracnose severity was reduced under elevated CO2 although the reduction was only significant in Fitzroy. Delayed and reduced germination, germtube growth and appressoria roduction were partly responsible for the reduced severity. Despite an extended incubation period,C. gloeosporioides developed sporulating lesions faster and producedmore spores per day within the same latent period at high CO2 and ambient CO2. When Fitzroy seedlings grown at 700ppm CO2 were exposed to pathogen inoculum under field conditions, they consistently developed more severe anthracnose with more lesions than seedlings grown at ambient CO2. The environmental variable, which correlated most strongly with the dispersal and infection of C. gloeosporioides spores in the field, was relative humidity in plant canopy. We have shown that an enlarged Stylosanthes canopy under elevated CO2 can trap more spores, which can lead to more severe anthracnose under favorable weather. The implications of these findings for perennial Stylosanthes pastures are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This study examines the relative importance of canopy size and induced resistance to Colletotrichum gloeosporioides at 350- and 700-ppm atmospheric CO(2) concentrations on susceptible Stylosanthes scabra 'Fitzroy' from two studies in a controlled environment facility (CEF) and in the field. Plants were grown at the two CO(2) concentrations in a repeated experiment in the CEF and inoculated at 6, 9, or 12 weeks of age. Although the physiological maturity of plants was at a similar stage for all three ages, the number of lesions per plant increased with increasing plant age at both CO(2) concentrations. At 350 ppm, the increase was associated with canopy size and increasing infection efficiency of the pathogen, but at 700 ppm, it was associated only with canopy size, because infection efficiency did not change with increasing age. A level of resistance was induced in plants at 700 ppm CO(2). In a second study, plants were raised for 12 to 14 weeks at the two CO(2) concentrations in the CEF and exposed to C. gloeosporioides inoculum in replicated field plots under ambient CO(2) over three successive years. Fitzroy developed a dense and enlarged canopy, with 28 to 46% more nodes, leaf area, and aboveground biomass at high CO(2) than at low CO(2). Up to twice as many lesions per plant were produced in the high CO(2) plants, because the enlarged canopy trapped many more pathogen spores. The transient induced resistance in high CO(2) plants failed to operate when exposed to pathogen inoculum under ambient CO(2) in the field. These results highlight the need to consider both canopy size and host resistance in assessing the influence of elevated CO(2) on plant disease.

This paper reports the effect of twice-ambient (700 ppm) atmospheric CO(2) concentration on infection, disease development, spore production and dispersal of the anthracnose pathogen Colletotrichum gloeosporioides in susceptible (Fitzroy) and partially resistant (Seca) cultivars of the tropical pasture legume Stylosanthes scabra under controlled environment and field conditions. Reduction in plant height due to anthracnose was partially compensated for by growth enhancement at elevated CO(2) in Fitzroy but not in Seca. Anthracnose severity was reduced under elevated CO(2) although the reduction was only significant in Fitzroy. Delayed and reduced germination, germtube growth and appressoria production were partly responsible for the reduced severity. Despite an extended incubation period, C. gloeosporioides developed sporulating lesions faster and produced more spores per day within the same latent period at high CO(2) and ambient CO(2). When Fitzroy seedlings grown at 700 ppm CO(2) were exposed to pathogen inoculum under field conditions, they consistently developed more severe anthracnose with more lesions than seedlings grown at ambient CO(2). The environmental variable, which correlated most strongly with the dispersal and infection of C. gloeosporioides spores in the field, was relative humidity in plant canopy. We have shown that an enlarged Stylosanthes canopy under elevated CO(2) can trap more spores, which can lead to more severe anthracnose under favorable weather. The implications of these findings for perennial Stylosanthes pastures are discussed.