Marina Gutierrez researches stress contributions to Macrophomina severity

Graduate student Marina Gutierrez researched how environmental stressors like drought and high salinity affect Macrophomina root rot in strawberries. By artificially infecting Fronteras and Sweet Ann strawberry cultivars with Macrophomina inoculum and subjecting them to various stress conditions, she found that drought was the most significant factor in plant mortality, followed by the high ECw stress. This research aims to better our understanding of how these stressors contribute to Macrophomina disease severity in strawberries.

She presented this year's data at our Field Day. Check out her handout here.