THE ROTTING OF APPLES BY GLOEOSPORIUM PERENNANS ZELLER & CHILDS

The extent of rotting of commercially stored Cox's Orange Pippin apples by Gloeosporium species has been severe in recent years. G. perennuns has been found to be mainly responsible. Tree infections of this fungus have usually been found to be prevalent in the orchards on farms where storage losses of fruit have occurred, and conidia of G. perennans have been found on cankers at all seasons during the year. Winter as well as summer pruning cuts have been found to become infected. Detached leaves of Cox's Orange Pippin have been successfully inoculated with G. perennans in the laboratory and the fungus has also been found on dead detached leaves in the orchard after picking time. Considerable variations have been found in the susceptibility to rotting of samples of different varieties of apple and samples of Cox's Orange Pippin apples from different orchards. Periodic loading of fruit with spores after picking has shown that resistance declines with length of storage. Wide variation in the time at which rotting commences in commercially stored samples has been observed. A series of inoculations on picked and unpicked immature fruit has shown that the apple loses its resistance to attack on picking. Lenticels which are impermeable to gaseous exchange have been shown to be resistant to penetration by the fungus. Temperature affects the development of lenticel rotting by G. perennans, infection being most rapid at temperatures of about 20 degrees. Rotting can occur at 0 degrees C.