Impact of Seed-born Colletotrichum lindemuthianum on French Bean Seed Quality

French bean seed samples were collected from different parts of Tamil Nadu including both tropical and temperate region including four cultivars viz.,Arkakomal,Premier,Rajmash DPU 88-4 and Watex.The variety Watex was found to maximum per cent seed infection of C.lindemuthianum with more discolorations.Among the various techniques adopted for detection,agar plate method was found to be best and yielded maximum per cent seed infection.Direct correlation was obtained between seed discoloration and per cent seed infection.The pathogen was found to be present mostly in seed coat and cotyledon and rarely in embryonic axis.The artificial inoculation of 45-day-old plants resulted in maximum disease incidence,resultant seed infection and minimum seed yield /plant and 100 grain weight