Abstract

CORIA AVALOS, Víctor Manuel et al. Susceptibility study of avocado varieties to the attack of mistletoe in Michoacán. Rev. Mex. Cienc. Agríc [online]. 2018, vol.9, n.8, pp.1715-1725.  Epub Oct 06, 2020. ISSN 2007-0934.  https://doi.org/10.29312/remexca.v9i8.1368.

The infestations caused by parasitic mistletoe plants, which attack wild and cultivated perennial plants of Mexico, represent one of the main limiting factors of production and are the cause of high mortality rates in plants. The objective was to study the susceptibility of different avocado materials to attack by mistletoe species and identify the genera and species of mistletoe plants that grow on the diversity of avocado trees in the Michoacán avocado region. A fraction of this region was sampled and botanical material from parasitic plants that were affecting avocado trees was collected. In nursery in ‘Hass’, ‘Fuerte’ and ‘creole’ avocado plants, infestations were induced with seeds of the different mistletoe species collected in avocado trees in situ. Three seeds were placed per plant and by an experimental design of complete blocks at random, with six repetitions; the response was observed during one year, in terms of the rate of germination and development of endophytic tissue of the hemiparasite on the infested plants. There were three genera and four species parasitizing avocado trees (Persea americana Mill. var. drymifolia). The results of the induced colonization of the mistletoe, in Psittacanthus calyculatus, we found a highly significant statistical difference (Pr> F= 0.0024) for the development of endophytic tissue of the parasitic plant on the different avocado materials used. The highest incidence was in ‘creole’ avocado with 83.3% and in ‘Fuerte’ avocado it was 66.7% of infested plants; avocado ‘Hass’ in none of the plants developed the infection.

Keywords : Persea americana Mill.; Loranthaceae; parasitic plants.