The objective of this study was to verify the relationship between percentage of cotton seeds infected by Colletotrichum gossypii var. cephalosporioides and the progress of ramulosis in the field. The experiment was carried out in Lavras (Minas Gerais State, Brazil) and was designed in randomized blocks with five treatments and replicated three times. The treatments consisted of plots with 0, 4, 8 and 16% of seeds infected with the pathogen. Germination and final stand were evaluated ten and 30 days after sowing. The incidence and disease severity were evaluated, weekly, from 30 to 95 days after sowing and the data were transformed to area under the disease progress curve of the incidence (AUDPCI) and of the severity (AUDPCS). Production (Kg/ha) and the transmissibility of the pathogen plant-seed were also evaluated. No significant difference was observed for the germination, the final stand and the production. On the other hand, inoculum levels in seeds influenced the AUDPCI and the AUDPCS, and the disease's progress increased with the rise of initial inoculum in seeds. There was positive and significant correlation between both AUDPCS and the percentage of the pathogen on seeds and also between both initial inoculum potential and incidence and percentage of the pathogen on seeds. In the same way, the percentage of the pathogen on seeds was correlated positively to AUDPCS.
Gossypium hirsutum; seed inoculation; ramulosis; transmissibility
