A new tool for entry and analysis of virulence data for plant pathogens

The methods of Habgood (1970) and Gilmour (1973) for the assignment of pathogen race names are discussed and the advantages of a reversed octal system, based on Gilmour's octal code, are emphasized. A new spreadsheet, ‘HaGiS’, exploits these two designation systems to provide user‐friendly and fast access to some routine steps in the analysis of virulence data for plant pathogen populations. It produces graphs and tables for frequency distributions (of pathotypes, isolate complexities and cultivar susceptibilities); sorted lists (e.g. of the races ranked by predominance); indices (of sample diversity and of pathogenicity for each differential cultivar); and coloured proximity matrices. Use of HaGiS requires knowledge of only a few basic functions of MS Excel 97 ® . All graphs, tables, indices and matrices are generated automatically and displayed by switching to the corresponding worksheet. In addition to data analysis, the spreadsheet is convenient for the entry of experimental data, allowing for all commonly used assessment scales.