EFFECT OF VERTICILLIUM WILT ON GAS-EXCHANGE OF ENTIRE EGGPLANTS

Verticillium dahliae infection may reduce growth and yield of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) by inhibiting gas exchange per unit leaf area, and (or) by reducing leaf area. To quantify this inhibition, eggplants were grown in a field in fumigated soil or soil naturally infested with V. dahliae. Photosynthesis, dark respiration, transpiration, leaf area, disease symptoms, and yield were measured. Whole plants were enclosed in clear-walled chambers to measure gas exchange for 24-h periods. Before fruit set, there were no symptoms of wilt and no difference in leaf area or in gas exchange of plants grown in infested or fumigated soil. After fruit set, plants grown in the Verticillium-infested soil became symptomatic and had less leaf area, smaller leaves, and less photosynthesis per plant under high irradiance than plants grown in the fumigated soil. When whole plant gas exchange was normalized per unit leaf area there was no significant effect of disease on photosynthesis or transpiration. Although verticillium wilt reduces photosynthesis per unit leaf area in other species, our findings suggest that verticillium wilt reduced gas exchange of the entire eggplant predominantly by reduced leaf area rather than by reduced photosynthetic efficiency.