ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Assessment of the relationship between white mold (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary) infection levels and crop yield parameters in oilseed rape (Brassica napus L) cultivation
1
Department of Integrated Plant Protection, Institute of Plant Protection, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Gödöllő, Hungary
A - Research concept and design; B - Collection and/or assembly of data; C - Data analysis and interpretation; D - Writing the article; E - Critical revision of the article; F - Final approval of article
Submission date: 2025-06-18
Acceptance date: 2025-08-26
Online publication date: 2025-10-09
Corresponding author
Ramóna Vizi
Department of Integrated Plant Protection, Institute of Plant Protection, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Gödöllő, Hungary
Department of Integrated Plant Protection, Institute of Plant Protection, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Gödöllő, Hungary
Journal of Plant Protection Research 2026;66(3):423-435
HIGHLIGHTS
- The hybrids showed a high infection, but no differences were observed between them
- Disease severity had an effect on protein content, oil content, and TSW
- Disease severity had no effect on moisture content
- There was no consistent effect between the hybrids tested for each quality parameter
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
White mold [Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary] often results in substantial yield and
quality losses in winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.; OSR). This study investigated the
tolerance levels of four commonly cultivated OSR hybrids (Architect, Bluestar, PT271, and
Umberto) to white mold infection and assessed the effects of fungal infection on yield.
Artificial inoculation with mycelial disks of S. sclerotiorum was performed on the four OSR
hybrids during the siliqua formation stage (BBCH 71-79) over three consecutive growing
seasons (2020/21 to 2022/23). The levels of OSR plant infection and yield parameters
(thousand-seed weight (TSW), moisture, protein, and oil content) were determined. The
hybrids exhibited varying levels of tolerance to the pathogen, and these differences were
affected by the growing season. The Architect hybrid proved to be the most susceptible in
the 2020/21 season, while no differences were observed in the following growing seasons.
Infection resulted in yield reductions of up to 93% and impacted protein and oil content,
and TSW to varying extents, while moisture content remained unaffected. These results
underscore the importance of selecting S. sclerotiorum-resistant oilseed rape hybrids to
maintain yield quality and to inform integrated pest management (IPM) strategies tailored
to the conditions of each growing season.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank Patrick L O’Brien,
as Senior International Environmental Consultant,
for his valuable comments and English editing. They
also thank Mihály Zalai for his help with the statistical
analysis.
RESPONSIBLE EDITOR
Zuzanna Sawińska
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors have declared that no conflict of interests exist.
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