This study aimed to evaluate the effect of water restriction, in agar medium, on the germination of soybean seeds inoculated with Sclerotinia sclerotiorum at the osmotic potentials 0, -0.3, -0.6 and -0.9 MPa promoted by the use of the solutes mannitol, MgCl and NaCl, at different times of seed exposure to the pathogen (6, 12, 18, 24 and 30 hours), as well as the possibility of storing the inoculated seeds. The mycelial growth of S. sclerotiorum in the osmotically modified media, the germination of seeds subjected to inoculation and, after the storage of inoculated seeds, the emergence on the soil and the pathogen transmission were evaluated. According to the obtained results, the addition of mannitol to the PDA medium, at the osmotic potentials -0.3, -0.6 and -0.9 MPa, as well as NaCl, -0.3 and -0.6 MPa, does not limit the mycelial growth of S. sclerotiorum; the solutes used until the osmotic potential -0.9 MPa did not interfere in the germination of soybean seeds. Satisfactory infection levels were obtained with 24 hours of incubation in culture medium with water restriction. The viability of both the seeds and the pathogen is maintained after the storage of seeds inoculated in medium with water restriction.
white mold; transmission; seed pathology
