Effects of ozone exposure and leaf age of wheat on infection processes of Septoria nodorum Berk

The infection process of Septoria nodorum was studied on the flag and second leaves of wheat plants at the flag‐leaf emergence growth stage (GS 39), after pre‐inoculative fumigation with different doses of ozone (0, 80, 180 or 240 μg/m3) for 7 h daily over 7 days. On ozone‐treated plants, formation of appressoria occurred earlier, leading to a greater number and density of appressoria and faster growth of superficial infection hyphae than on plants grown without ozone amendment. Additionally, on leaves treated with 180 and 240 μg/m3 ozone, the percentage of papillae per appressorium was only half that on control plants. The number of germ tubes per conidium was not significantly affected by any treatment. Effects of increasing leaf age on the infection process were similar to those obtained with ozone. These results provide further evidence for similarities in the physiological effects of ozone and leaf ageing, which support the hypothesis that disease alterations due to ozone are strongly determined by the senescing effects of the pollutant.