Abstract
Fusarium species, such as F. oxysporum and F. secorum, are damaging soil borne pathogens of sugar beet that cause root rot and foliar damage. Management of Fusarium diseases is heavily reliant on the use of resistant sugar beet cultivars as no fungicide management has been established for Fusarium pathogens. Breeding for tolerance to Fusarium species is laborious due to the lack of rapid assays to screen available germplasm for Fusarium tolerance. Here we developed a sugar beet seedling assay that distinguishes between Fusarium tolerant and susceptible sugar beet varieties. The assay is performed using sterile pleated paper inoculated with Fusarium conidia that were incubated for seven days at 25℃. Significant differences in disease scores were observed between established tolerant sugar beet seedlings and susceptible seedlings. This new assay will be a valuable tool both for supplementing traditional field trials for Fusarium tolerance and as a rapid assay to screen germplasm for Fusarium tolerance.