Refinement of Non-Antibiotic Spray Programs for Fire Blight Control in Organic Pome Fruit

Plant Disease ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken Johnson ◽  
Todd N Temple ◽  
Achala KC ◽  
Rachel B Elkins

Fire blight-susceptible, certified organic pome fruit is produced currently on 9,000 ha in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States with acreage continuing to expand in spite of a 2014 prohibition on antibiotics as allowable materials for infection suppression. Non-antibiotic practices for fire blight suppression mirror conventional management, but the full bloom to petal fall period when antibiotics are typically sprayed for fire blight control continues to receive research scrutiny owing to drawbacks and weaknesses of alternative materials. As solitary treatments, effective non-antibiotic materials (e.g., a yeast biocontrol, soluble coppers, and alum) raise the risk of a crop-value reducing, phytotoxic response termed fruit russeting. Conversely, materials with less russeting risk (e.g., Bacillus-based biorationals) are less effective for fire blight control. Spray programs using a combination of materials applied from mid-bloom to petal fall have the potential to provide high levels of protection with reduced russeting risk. In orchard trials, the effects of non-antibiotic spray programs on epiphytic population size of Erwinia. amylovora in flowers, yeast biocontrol population size, floral pH, infection suppression, and fruit russeting revealed strategies for sequencing sprays of non-antibiotic materials. The yeast biocontrol, Blossom Protect (Aureobasidium pullulans), sprayed at 70% bloom was an important contributor to fire blight suppression as was the soluble copper material, Previsto, when applied at full bloom. Choice of material for the petal fall spray timing was important to fruit russeting risk but apparently less important to overall infection incidence. Consequently, treatment programs of Blossom Protect at 70% bloom, a soluble copper at full bloom, and a Bacillus-based biorational at petal fall best balances the quality of infection suppression with risk of fruit russeting.

2016 ◽  
Vol 148 (5) ◽  
pp. 616-618 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.R. Echegaray ◽  
R.N. Stougaard ◽  
B. Bohannon

AbstractEuxestonotus error (Fitch) (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) is considered part of the natural enemy complex of the wheat midge Sitodiplosis mosellana (Géhin) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae). Although previously reported in the United States of America, there is no record for this species outside the state of New York since 1865. A survey conducted in the summer of 2015 revealed that E. error is present in northwestern Montana and is likely playing a role in the suppression of wheat midge populations.


Plant Disease ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 93 (8) ◽  
pp. 797-803 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renuka N. Attanayake ◽  
Dean A. Glawe ◽  
Frank M. Dugan ◽  
Weidong Chen

The taxonomy of the powdery mildew fungus infecting lentil in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) of the United States was investigated on the basis of morphology and rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences. Anamorphic characters were in close agreement with descriptions of Erysiphe trifolii. However, teleomorphs formed chasmothecial appendages with highly branched apices, whereas E. trifolii has been described as producing flexuous or sometimes loosely branched appendages. Branched appendages have been described in Erysiphe diffusa, a fungus reported from species of Lens, Glycine, and Sophora, raising the possibility that the PNW fungus could be E. diffusa. Examination of morphological characters of an authentic specimen of E. trifolii from Austria determined that it included chasmothecial appendages resembling those seen in PNW specimens. Furthermore, ITS sequences from five powdery mildew samples collected from lentils in PNW greenhouses and fields from 2006 to 2008 were identical to one another, and exhibited higher similarity to sequences of E. trifolii (99%) than to those of any other Erysiphe spp. available in GenBank. Parsimony analysis grouped the lentil powdery mildew into a clade with Erysiphe baeumleri, E. trifolii, and E. trifolii–like Oidium sp., but indicated a more distant relationship to E. diffusa. In greenhouse inoculation studies, the lentil powdery mildew fungus did not infect soybean genotypes known to be susceptible to E. diffusa. The pathogenicity of E. trifolii on lentil was confirmed using modified Koch's postulates. This is the first report of E. trifolii infecting lentil. E. diffusa and E. trifolii have different host ranges, so the discovery of E. trifolii on lentil has implications both for determining species of powdery mildews on cool-season grain legumes, and in disease management.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingming Yang ◽  
Linda S Thomashow ◽  
David M Weller

Pseudomonas brassicacearum Q8r1-96 and other 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol (DAPG)-producing pseudomonads of the Pseudomonas fluorescens complex possess both biocontrol and growth-promoting properties and play an important role in suppression of take-all of wheat in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) of the United States. However, P. brassicacearum can also reduce seed germination and cause root necrosis on some wheat cultivars. We evaluated the effect of Q8r1-96 and DAPG on the germination of 69 wheat cultivars that have been or currently are grown in the PNW. Cultivars varied widely in their ability to tolerate P. brassicacearum or DAPG. The frequency of germination of the cultivars ranged from 0 to 0.87 and from 0.47 to 0.90 when treated with Q8r1-96 and DAPG, respectively. There was a significant positive correlation between the frequency of germination of cultivars treated with Q8r1-96 in assays conducted in vitro and in the greenhouse. The correlation was greater for spring than for winter cultivars. In contrast, the effect of Q8r1-96 on seed germination was not correlated with that of DAPG alone, suggesting that DAPG is not the only factor responsible for the phytotoxicity of Q8r1-96. Three wheat cultivars with the greatest tolerance and three cultivars with the least tolerance to Q8r1-96 were tested for their ability to support root colonization by strain Q8r1-96. Cultivars with the greatest tolerance supported significantly greater populations of strain Q8r1-96 than those with the least tolerance to the bacteria. Our results show that wheat cultivars differ widely in their interaction with P. brassicacearum and the biocontrol antibiotic DAPG.


Author(s):  
Ronald W. Pimentel, Ph.D. ◽  
Michael B. Lowry, Ph.D. ◽  
David Pimentel, J.D. ◽  
Amanda K. Glazer ◽  
Timothy W. Koglin ◽  
...  

Bike share, e-bike share, and e-scooter systems (shared micro-mobility) are gaining popularity throughout the United States and internationally, but the optimal system design has not been determined. This study investigated motivators and deterrents to the use of such systems in the Pacific Northwest with secondary data, participant observations, depth interviews, and an on-line survey to users and non-users. The survey was administered in all cities in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho that have shared micro-mobility systems. The strongest motivators reported were exercise and enjoyment. The strongest deterrents were weather, danger from automobile traffic, and insufficient bike lanes and paths. The latter two deterrents might be alleviated through continued improvements to infrastructure; however, the weather cannot be changed, and neither can hills. Data were fitted to the Theory of Reasoned Action and the resulting recommendation is to promote popular motivators of exercise and enjoyment and emphasize personal benefits more than social appearances.


2021 ◽  
pp. 119-143
Author(s):  
Melanie C. Ross

Chapter 5 explores the Vineyard movement, one of the fastest-growing church movements in the United States, which is committed to holding together the “already” and “not yet” of the Kingdom of God in worship. In addition to looking for a dramatic, miraculous inbreaking of the Holy Spirit, there is a less dramatic but equally formative influence at work in worship: the Quaker notion of “gospel order” and its accompanying understanding of ethics. These commitments are tested at “Koinonia Vineyard,” a congregation located in the Pacific Northwest, where one African American member wrestles with her vision of activism and her Caucasian pastor’s desire for the congregation to remain politically neutral during a time of national racial unrest.


2020 ◽  
pp. 152483992094525
Author(s):  
Emily Kroshus ◽  
Deborah Bowen ◽  
Douglas Opel ◽  
Sara P. D. Chrisman ◽  
Frederick P. Rivara

Many families are concerned about their child’s risk of concussion, and some seek counsel from clinicians about whether or not to return to contact sports participation postinjury. The present study sought to identify factors that parents weight most heavily in forming their preferences regarding whether their child should return to contact sport after recovering from a concussion. Survey data were collected from 568 parents of youth football players (aged 7–14 years) in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States (73% response rate). Approximately two thirds (63%) of parents preferred that their child retire from football after one or two concussions. Multivariable linear regression indicated parents above the sample mean in terms of how strongly they valued football participation preferred their child stop after more concussions than parents below the sample mean (β = .44, standard error [SE] = 0.06, p < .001). Factors endorsed by the most parents as making them “much more likely” to want their child to stop playing football included the belief that their child will experience cognitive issues later in life as a result of concussions (65.0%) and that their child will get another concussion while playing football (43.5%). Within the context of a clinical visit postconcussion, physicians may need to help families clarify their values related to football participation and provide information about the potential outcomes of returning to contact sport. A formalized shared decision aid could help support consistent implementation of this potentially challenging conversation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Slocum

The collective politics of climate justice makes the important claim that lowering emissions is not enough; society must also undertake radical transformation to address both the climate and inequality crises. Owing to its roots in the environmental justice movement, addressing systemic racism is central to climate justice praxis in the United States, which is a necessary intervention in typically technocratic climate politics. What emerges from US climate justice is a moral appeal to ‘relationship’ as politics, the procedural demand that communities of color (the ‘frontline’) lead the movement, and a distributive claim on carbon pricing revenue. However, this praxis precludes a critique of racial capitalism, the process that relies on structural racism to enhance accumulation, alienating, exploiting, and immiserating black, brown, and white, while carrying out ecocide. The lack of an analysis of how class and race produce the crises climate justice confronts prevents the movement from demanding that global north fossil fuel abolition occur in tandem with the reassertion of the public over the private and de-growth. Drawing on research conducted primarily in Oregon and Washington, I argue that race works to both create and limit the transformative possibilities of climate politics.


Weed Science ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 34 (S1) ◽  
pp. 2-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary A. Lee

Rush skeletonweed (Chondrilla junceaL. CHOJU) infestations occur along the eastern seaboard and in several western states of the United States. This Eurasian species was inadvertently introduced prior to 1870, with established stands first reported in Maryland and West Virginia (16). These infestations (16) were assessed as lacking aggressive characteristics and posed little threat as a problem weed. Although rush skeletonweed was discovered in the Pacific Northwest as early as 1938, the species was not recognized as a potential weed problem until nearly three decades later (27). Subsequent surveys revealed that infestations occupied over 2.3 million ha in California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington (6). Attempts to generate support for an organized control program in Idaho were met with little enthusiasm during the 1960's.


Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
Hyeyoung Woo ◽  
Bianca N. I. Eskelson ◽  
Vicente J. Monleon

The United States national inventory program measures a subset of tree heights in each plot in the Pacific Northwest. Unmeasured tree heights are predicted by adding the difference between modeled tree heights at two measurements to the height observed at the first measurement. This study compared different approaches for directly modeling 10-year height increment of red alder (RA) and ponderosa pine (PP) in Washington and Oregon using national inventory data from 2001–2015. In addition to the current approach, five models were implemented: nonlinear exponential, log-transformed linear, gamma, quasi-Poisson, and zero-inflated Poisson models using both tree-level (e.g., height, diameter at breast height, and compacted crown ratio) and plot-level (e.g., basal area, elevation, and slope) measurements as predictor variables. To account for negative height increment observations in the modeling process, a constant was added to shift all response values to greater than zero (log-transformed linear and gamma models), the negative increment was set to zero (quasi-Poisson and zero-inflated Poisson models), or a nonlinear model, which allows negative observations, was used. Random plot effects were included to account for the hierarchical data structure of the inventory data. Predictive model performance was examined through cross-validation. Among the implemented models, the gamma model performed best for both species, showing the smallest root mean square error (RSME) of 2.61 and 1.33 m for RA and PP, respectively (current method: RA—3.33 m, PP—1.40 m). Among the models that did not add the constant to the response, the quasi-Poisson model exhibited the smallest RMSE of 2.74 and 1.38 m for RA and PP, respectively. Our study showed that the prediction of tree height increment in Oregon and Washington can be improved by accounting for the negative and zero height increment values that are present in inventory data, and by including random plot effects in the models.


mBio ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaime Martinez-Urtaza ◽  
Ronny van Aerle ◽  
Michel Abanto ◽  
Julie Haendiges ◽  
Robert A. Myers ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Vibrio parahaemolyticus is the leading cause of seafood-related infections with illnesses undergoing a geographic expansion. In this process of expansion, the most fundamental change has been the transition from infections caused by local strains to the surge of pandemic clonal types. Pandemic clone sequence type 3 (ST3) was the only example of transcontinental spreading until 2012, when ST36 was detected outside the region where it is endemic in the U.S. Pacific Northwest causing infections along the U.S. northeast coast and Spain. Here, we used genome-wide analyses to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the V. parahaemolyticus ST36 clone over the course of its geographic expansion during the previous 25 years. The origin of this lineage was estimated to be in ~1985. By 1995, a new variant emerged in the region and quickly replaced the old clone, which has not been detected since 2000. The new Pacific Northwest (PNW) lineage was responsible for the first cases associated with this clone outside the Pacific Northwest region. After several introductions into the northeast coast, the new PNW clone differentiated into a highly dynamic group that continues to cause illness on the northeast coast of the United States. Surprisingly, the strains detected in Europe in 2012 diverged from this ancestral group around 2000 and have conserved genetic features present only in the old PNW lineage. Recombination was identified as the major driver of diversification, with some preliminary observations suggesting a trend toward a more specialized lifestyle, which may represent a critical element in the expansion of epidemics under scenarios of coastal warming. IMPORTANCE Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio cholerae represent the only two instances of pandemic expansions of human pathogens originating in the marine environment. However, while the current pandemic of V. cholerae emerged more than 50 years ago, the global expansion of V. parahaemolyticus is a recent phenomenon. These modern expansions provide an exceptional opportunity to study the evolutionary process of these pathogens at first hand and gain an understanding of the mechanisms shaping the epidemic dynamics of these diseases, in particular, the emergence, dispersal, and successful introduction in new regions facilitating global spreading of infections. In this study, we used genomic analysis to examine the evolutionary divergence that has occurred over the course of the most recent transcontinental expansion of a pathogenic Vibrio, the spreading of the V. parahaemolyticus sequence type 36 clone from the region where it is endemic on the Pacific coast of North America to the east coast of the United States and finally to the west coast of Europe. IMPORTANCE Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio cholerae represent the only two instances of pandemic expansions of human pathogens originating in the marine environment. However, while the current pandemic of V. cholerae emerged more than 50 years ago, the global expansion of V. parahaemolyticus is a recent phenomenon. These modern expansions provide an exceptional opportunity to study the evolutionary process of these pathogens at first hand and gain an understanding of the mechanisms shaping the epidemic dynamics of these diseases, in particular, the emergence, dispersal, and successful introduction in new regions facilitating global spreading of infections. In this study, we used genomic analysis to examine the evolutionary divergence that has occurred over the course of the most recent transcontinental expansion of a pathogenic Vibrio, the spreading of the V. parahaemolyticus sequence type 36 clone from the region where it is endemic on the Pacific coast of North America to the east coast of the United States and finally to the west coast of Europe.


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