Pecan cultivation in Brazil has gained increasingly economic importance in the southern part of the country. The objective of this work was to identify the pathogen that causes root rot in Carya illinoinensis seedlings in the nursery, through morphological, molecular and pathogenicity tests. Fungi from the genus Fusarium found in symptomatic roots of pecan seedlings were isolated in potato dextrose agar (PDA) culture medium and purified. Morphological characterization was performed in PDA and carnation leaf agar (CLA) media. For the molecular characterization, the genomic segments ITS (internal transcribed spaces), β-tub (beta-tubulin), and tef1-α (elongation fact 1-alpha) were sequenced. The pathogenicity test was performed on healthy seedlings in the greenhouse. The combination of morphological and molecular characters was fundamental for identification of the species, showing that the most suitable genes for identification were ITS and tef1-α. The causative agent of root rot in C. illinoinensis seedlings in the nursery was identified as Fusarium oxysporum.

This study evaluated the efficiency of methods to overcome seed dormancy in different storage periods in the production of pecan seedlings. Seeds were submitted to the following treatments: T₁, T₄ and T₇ - control treatments (seeds with no treatment, stored at room temperature for 30, 60 and 90 days, respectively), T₂, T₅ and T₈ - stratification (seeds were distributed in boxes with wet sand maintained at a temperature of 4°C for 30, 60 and 90 days, respectively), T₃, T₆ and T₉ - scarification + stratification (seeds scarified with sandpaper n.80 and stratified by 30, 60 and 90 days, respectively), in completely random experimental design. Plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves, full emergence and emergence speed index (ESI) were evaluated after 14 weeks of sowing. The best development of pecan 'plants, their emergence, and ESI were observed in the stratification treatment for 90 day as well as in the scarification + stratification treatment for 90 day. Storing seeds in uncontrolled environment reduced their viability.

A cultura da nogueira-pecã tem grande importância para a economia de vários municípios do Sul do Brasil. Entretanto, problemas como baixa porcentagem de germinação das sementes e irregularidade na emergência das plântulas trazem dificuldades no processo de propagação, decorrentes da influência do fenômeno da dormência. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar diferentes técnicas de superação da dormência de sementes de nogueira-pecã e o posterior desenvolvimento das plântulas. Para tanto, foram testados quatro diferentes métodos de superação de dormência, em que, nos tratamentos testemunhas, as sementes permaneceram em ambiente protegido sem qualquer tratamento; no método com escarificação, as sementes foram lixadas na parte apical no momento da semeadura e na estratificação, acomodadas em caixas com areia úmida e mantidas na temperatura de 4 ºC. Também foi testada a combinação escarificação e estratificação, simultaneamente. Os tratamentos foram compostos por 10 repetições de três sementes cada. Após cada período (30, 60 e 90 dias), as sementes foram semeadas em bandeja contendo substrato Mecplant® e mantidas a 25 ºC ± 2 ºC, sob fotoperíodo de 12 h. Avaliaram-se a altura da parte aérea, o diâmetro do colo, o número de folhas, a emergência total, o índice de velocidade de emergência, a biomassa seca, a área foliar e o comprimento da raiz pivotante. O melhor desenvolvimento de plântulas de nogueira-pecã, bem como sua emergência, foi observado no tratamento com estratificação por 90 dias e, quando combinadas escarificação mais estratificação, por 90 dias.

The yerba-mate (Ilex paraguariensis) has great socioeconomic importance on family farming in Southerm Brazil. One of the main yerba-mate disease is root rotting, caused by Fusarium spp. Little is known about the pathogen physiology, especially regarding the aggressiveness associated with the production of extracellular enzymes. On this work, the aggressiveness of isolates of F. oxysporum and F. solani pathogenic to yerba-mate was evaluated and it was determined the activities of extracellular enzymes catalase, laccase, cellulase, caseinase, amylase, protease, lipase and pectinases produced by Fusarium spp. in culture medium. Six isolates of F. solani and one isolate of F. oxysporum pathogenic to yerba-mate were used. The F. oxysporum isolate proved to be less aggressive in relation to the other F. solani isolates. All isolates of Fusarium spp. produced, on a semiquantitative manner, the extracellular enzymes catalase, laccase, cellulase, caseinase, amylase, protease, lipase and pectinases (polygalacturonase and pectate lyase). However, the quantity produced for each enzyme was significantly different among the isolates. With the exception of the laccase and polygalacturonase enzymes, the M7C1 isolate showed the highest enzymatic index and was also responsible for the highest percentage of yerba-mate seedlings death.