Hard to say. Sounds like the russet crack strain of the Sweet potato feathery
mottle virus (SPFMV), but could also be root knot nematode (RKN), and secondary
infection with saprophytes. Could be soil pox, caused by Streptomyces ipomoea.
What type of "Disease Pattern" was there? Was the disease clustered around one
area or "patchy" in several areas (indicative of soil-borne diseases, such as
soil pox, or RKN)? Did it seem to occur at random? Was the entire field
affected? Also you said only one variety was affected? (These would more
characteristic of the aphid-transmitted SPFMV.)
Were there any above-ground symptoms? Did the leaves have chlorotic feathering
(yellowing around the Mid vein)?
There are tests for these diseases. Have your extension agent check it out.
-- Russ Bulluck Graduate Student Plant Pathology NCSU Box 7616 Raleigh, NC 27695 ------------------------------------------------------------- The soil population is so complex that it manifestly cannot be dealt with as a whole with any detail by any one person, and at the same time it plays so important a part in the soil economy that it must be studied. --Sir E. John Russell The Micro-organisms of the Soil, 1923 -------------------------------------------------------------
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