Helminthosporium solani
Helminthosporium solani is a plant-pathogenic fungus that causes silver scurf, a superficial blemish disease of potato tubers.
Silver scurf: A potato tuber blemish disease caused by Helminthosporium solani, marked by silvery patches on the skin. This is the disease produced when the fungus colonizes potato tuber surfaces.
Potato disease management: Practices used to prevent, diagnose, and control diseases affecting potato crops. Silver scurf control combines seed-tuber health, field practices, and storage management.
Fungus: A eukaryotic organism that absorbs nutrients and includes yeasts, molds, and mushrooms. Helminthosporium solani belongs to the fungi, a diverse group of absorptive organisms.
Black dot of potato: A potato disease caused by Colletotrichum coccodes, producing dark sclerotia and blemishes on tubers. Its tuber blemishes can resemble silver scurf, but a different fungus causes it.
Potato tuber: The enlarged underground stem of a potato plant that stores nutrients and can form new shoots. The fungus infects tuber skin, including harvested tubers used as seed potatoes.
Seed potato certification: A regulated system for testing and labeling potato planting stock for varietal identity and health standards. Certification can limit the distribution of seed lots carrying silver scurf.
Plant pathogen: An organism that causes disease in plants. The fungus is defined by its ability to cause disease in a living crop host.
Common scab: A potato tuber disease caused mainly by pathogenic Streptomyces bacteria, producing corky lesions. It also disfigures tubers but is bacterial and forms rough, corky lesions.
Seed potato: A potato tuber or tuber piece planted to produce a new potato crop. Infected seed tubers are a major route by which the fungus enters fields.
Crop rotation: The planned sequence of different crops grown on the same land over successive seasons. Rotation can reduce field inoculum, though infected seed tubers remain a key source.