A direct soil DNA extraction method from soil samples (250 g) was applied for detection of the soilborne sugar-beet-infecting pathogen Rhizoctonia solani anastomosis group (AG) 2-2IIIB using a newly developed real-time polymerase chain reaction assay that showed specificity to AG2-2IIIB when tested against various R. solani AG. The assay showed a good relation between cycle threshold and amount of AG2-2IIIB sclerotia detected in three spiked field soils and was also able to detect the pathogen in naturally infested field soil samples. A field trial was conducted to quantify R. solani AG2-2IIIB soil inoculum potential (IP) before and after growing a susceptible and a resistant sugar beet variety as well as after subsequent growth of an expected nonhost winter rye. Plants of the susceptible sugar beet variety displayed a higher disease severity. A more than sixfold increase of the R. solani AG2-2IIIB soil IP was observed in contrast to the resistant variety that resulted in a constant IP. Growing winter rye significantly reduced soil IP to the initial level at sowing. Further research is required to better understand the interaction between disease occurrence and soil IP as well as the environmental influence on IP development.
Keywords: Rhizoctonia crown and root rot; resistance.