Diagnosis of Common Root Rot of Wheat and Barley

Symptoms and Signs Initial symptoms of common root rot in either wheat or barley originate on young seedlings from inoculum carried on the seed or from infections originating from soilborne conidia near the seedling (18,28). Dark brown lesions appear on the outer coleoptile tissue and/or on the leaf base (Fig. 1). Lesions may coalesce into long areas of necrotic brown tissue. In extreme cases, the entire seedling may die. In most cases, however, the seedling will survive but growth of the developing plant may be stunted (Fig. 2).