ETIOLOGY OF BASAL KERNEL BLIGHT OF BARLEY CAUSED BY PSEUDOMONAS-SYRINGAE PV. SYRINGAE

Basal kernel blight is a barley disease that primarily impacts the mal ting and brewing industry since microorganisms present in diseased ker nels may alter malt and beer quality. Basal kernel blight is character ized by dark brown discoloration on the embryo end of the kernel, and in Montana this disease is caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae . In this study we determined that the critical period of infection is from late milk to soft dough stages of kernel development and that hi gh moisture is necessary during this period of infection and disease d evelopment. in addition, the use of sprinkler irrigation at soft dough may be applicable for evaluating susceptibility of cultivars under fi eld conditions as statistical differences were found between cultivars .