Relationship between blast severity on seedlings and panicles of Brazilian oat cultivars.

Blast, caused by Pyricularia oryzae, threats black (Avena strigosa) and white (A. sativa) oats in Brazil. Little is known about the reaction of Brazilian oat cultivars to blast and if there is a relationship between the response of cultivars to the disease at seedling and adult plant stages. The goals of this research were to verify (a) the reaction of black and white Brazilian oat cultivars to infection of P. oryzae and (b) if the response to blast on seedling leaves and panicles was correlated. Seedlings and adult plants of 13 oat cultivars were inoculated with a conidial suspension of one P. oryzae isolate obtained from a black oat cultivar The cultivars were classified according to blast severity on the leaf seedlings and panicles estimated by visual estimation. Two experiments were conducted for each one of the two evaluated stages. Cultivars with lower value to blast severity on seedling leaves were 'UPFA Gaudéria' (25.82%) and 'UPF 18' (24.88%) and, on panicles, 'BRS Centauro' (31.63%). Coefficients of Pearson, Spearman, and Kendall obtained from correlation analyses between blast severity on seedling leaves and panicles were -0.21232, -0.35714, and -0.30769, respectively (non-significant at 0.05). Lack of correlation between the responses of these oat cultivars to blast on seedling leaves and panicles be considered in the management of the disease in the field and the generation of new oat cultivars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]