• Asian Journal of Turfgrass Science
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.43-47
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• 2011

Creeping bentgrass (Agrosis stolonifera L.) is regarded to be the most widely used cool-season turf grass species grown on golf greens and fairways in temperate climates of North America. Creeping bentgrass is highly susceptible to the fungal disease 'dollar spot' caused by Sclerotinia homoeocarpa. Dollar spot is a foliar disease favored by conditions of high humidity, warm days, and cool nights. Studies using Aliette Signature (Fosetyl Aluminum formulated with a green pigment) mixed with another broad-spectrum fungicide do not always provide additional visual quality benefits compared to the fungicide alone. The exact mechanism for improved summer visual quality, when it occurs, is not known. Fertility management and environment likely contribute. The object of this study is to evaluate fungicide strategies for control of dollar spot and effect on visual quality during summer and on an L-93/G-2 creeping bentgrass green. Nine fungicide combinations were used for this study. Disease control and visual quality by fungicides was evaluated on an established G-2/L-93 creeping bentgrass green at 3-hole Sunshine Golf Course in Lemont, IL. All fungicide combination showed excellent dollar spot suppression except Fore throughout the study. Visual quality of greens by addition of Aliette Signature is enhanced when bentgrass growth is compromised and slow. Dollar spot levels in Fore plots increased to 30% on 14 August, and was no different than untreated plots. Unacceptable quality by Fore was due to lack of dollar spot control.

• Asian Journal of Turfgrass Science
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.170-175
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• 2010

A total of 24 isolates of S. homoeocarpa were isolated from 16 golf courses in Korea. Chemical resistance of 24 isolates was determined by in vitro fungal growth on fungicide-amended media with thiophanatemethyl (Benzimidazole fungicide family), tebuconazole (demethylation inhibitor fungicide family: DMI), and iprodione (dicarboximide fungicide family). Results indicated that 83.3% of 24 isolates were resistant to iprodione, 62.5% resistant to thiophanate-methyl and 0% resistant to tebuconazale. The dual resistance of iprodione and thiophanate-methyl was 58.3.%. Occurrence rate of fungicide resistance of thiophanate-methyl and iprodione had no relation to turfgrass varieties and isolated locations of pathogen. In the filed test, procymidone, boscalid, and fluquinconazole+pyrimethanil effectively controlled the dollar spot of creeping bentgrass.

• Weed & Turfgrass Science
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.376-382
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• 2015

Dollar spot, caused by Sclerotinia homoeocarpa, is the major disease in cool-season turfgrasses. Understanding the distribution of this pathogen in soil and thatch is important to developing disease control strategies. In this study, toothpicks were used to detect S. homoeocarpa in the turfgrass canopy, thatch, and soil at different distances from dollar spot infection centers. The effect of penetrant and contact fungicide applications with different water volumes on distribution of S. homoeocarpa was also investigated. S. homoeocarpa was detected in 100% of samples taken from the leaf canopy, 83.3% in thatch area, and 0% in the soil from within the infection center. S. homoeocarpa was isolated in 100% of samples taken from the edge of the infection center, but was only detected in 13% of the samples taken at 1.5 cm away from the infection center edge. S. homoeocarpa was isolated at a higher frequency in the propiconazole treated plots than those treated with chlorothalonil and was not detected in leaf canopy samples when either fungicides was applied with 6.78 L of water. In conclusion, the toothpick-aided detection technique has improved our understanding of S. homoeocarpa epidemiology and could be used as a diagnostic tool to detect for fungicide resistance on golf courses.

• Asian Journal of Turfgrass Science
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.171-176
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• 2011

Sclerotinia homoeocarpa, the causal agent of dollar spot, is one of the most common pathogens of cool season turfgrasses in South Korea. The vegetative compatibility group (VCG) assay was carried out using nitrate-nonutilizing (nit) mutants recovered from 13 South Korean isolates with various geographical origins. The mutants were divided into four phenotypic classes based on mutation loci associated with nitrogen assimilation: nit1, nit2, nit3, and NitM. The recovered number of nit mutants greatly varied among the isolates, ranging from 0 to 15 mutants. Of the mutants isolated, nit1 and nit2 mutants were most common (80%) while NitM and nit3 were relatively rare. One dominant and four minor VCGs were determined from 18 mutant isolates tested. To study population structures of Korean S. homoeocarpa isolates and increase our understanding of its ecological and epidemiological aspects for dollar spot management on turfgrass, more generated mutants should be tested with more diverse isolate collections.