DNA-based quantification of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum in environmental soils to describe spatial variation in inoculum density

Plant Disease ◽  
2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy Davis ◽  
Thomas Isakeit ◽  
Thomas Chappell

Fusarium wilt of cotton, caused by the soilborne fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum (FOV), occurs in regions of the United States where cotton (Gossypium spp.) is grown. Race 4 of this pathogen (FOV4) is especially aggressive and does not require the co-occurrence of the root knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) to infect cotton. Its sudden appearance in far-west Texas in 2016 after many years of being restricted to California is of great concern, as is the threat of its continued spread through the cotton-producing regions of the United States. The aim of this research was to analyze the spatial variability of FOV4 inoculum density in the location where FOV4 is locally emerging, using quantitative and droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (qPCR and ddPCR) methods. Soil samples collected from a field with known FOV4 incidence in Fabens, Texas were analyzed. Appreciable variation in inoculum density was found to occur at spatial scales smaller than the size of plots involved in cultivar trial research, and was spatially autocorrelated (Moran’s I, Z = 17.73, p < 0.0001). These findings indicate that for cultivar trials, accounting for the spatial distribution of inoculum either by directly quantifying it or through the use of densely-distributed “calibration checks” is important to the interpretation of results.

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-133
Author(s):  
Shyam Sheladia ◽  
P. Hemachandra Reddy

The emergence of age-related chronic diseases within the United States has led to the direct increase of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) as well as other neurological diseases which ultimately contribute to the development of dementia within the general population. To be specific, age-related chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol, diabetes, and kidney disease contribute greatly to the advancement and rapid progression of dementia. Furthermore, unmodifiable risk factors such as advancing age and genetics as well as modifiable risk factors such as socioeconomic status, educational attainment, exercise, and diet further contribute to the development of dementia. Current statistics and research show that minority populations such as Hispanic Americans in the United States face the greatest burden of dementia due to the increase in the prevalence of overall population age, predisposing genetics, age-related chronic diseases, low socioeconomic status, as well as poor lifestyle choices and habits. Additionally, Hispanic Americans living within Texas and the rural areas of West Texas face the added challenge of finding appropriate healthcare services. This article will focus upon the research associated with AD as well as the prevalence of AD within the Hispanic American population of Texas and rural West Texas. Furthermore, this article will also discuss the prevalence of age-related chronic diseases, unmodifiable risk factors, and modifiable risk factors which lead to the progression and development of AD within the Hispanic American population of the United States, Texas, and rural West Texas.


2018 ◽  
Vol 108 (11) ◽  
pp. 1326-1336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clive H. Bock ◽  
Carolyn A. Young ◽  
Katherine L. Stevenson ◽  
Nikki D. Charlton

Scab (caused by Venturia effusa) is the major disease of pecan in the southeastern United States. There is no information available on the fine-scale population genetic diversity or the occurrence of clonal types at small spatial scales that provides insight into inoculum sources and dispersal mechanisms, and potential opportunity for sexual reproduction. To investigate fine-scale genetic diversity, four trees of cultivar Wichita (populations) were sampled hierarchically: within each tree canopy, four approximately evenly spaced terminals (subpopulations) were selected and up to six leaflets (sub-subpopulations) were sampled from different compound leaves on each terminal. All lesions (n = 1 to 8) on each leaflet were sampled. The isolates were screened against a panel of 29 informative microsatellite markers and the resulting multilocus genotypes (MLG) subject to analysis. Mating type was also determined for each isolate. Of 335 isolates, there were 165 MLG (clonal fraction 49.3%). Nei’s unbiased measure of genetic diversity for the clone-corrected data were moderate to high (0.507). An analysis of molecular variance demonstrated differentiation (P = 0.001) between populations on leaflets within individual terminals and between terminals within trees in the tree canopies, with 93.8% of variance explained among isolates within leaflet populations. Other analyses (minimum-spanning network, Bayesian, and discriminant analysis of principal components) all indicated little affinity of isolate for source population. Of the 335 isolates, most unique MLG were found at the stratum of the individual leaflets (n = 242), with similar total numbers of unique MLG observed at the strata of the terminal (n = 170), tree (n = 166), and orchard (n = 165). Thus, the vast majority of shared clones existed on individual leaflets on a terminal at the scale of 10s of centimeters or less, indicating a notable component of short-distance dispersal. There was significant linkage disequilibrium (P < 0.001), and an analysis of Psex showed that where there were multiple encounters of an MLG, they were most probably the result of asexual reproduction (P < 0.05) but there was no evidence that asexual reproduction was involved in single or first encounters of an MLG (P > 0.05). Overall, the MAT1-1-1 and MAT1-2-1 idiomorphs were at equilibrium (73:92) and in most populations, subpopulations, and sub-subpopulations. Both mating types were frequently observed on the same leaflet. The results provide novel information on the characteristics of populations of V. effusa at fine spatial scales, and provide insights into the dispersal of the organism within and between trees. The proximity of both mating idiomorphs on single leaflets is further evidence of opportunity for development of the sexual stage in the field.


10.1068/a3469 ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 33 (10) ◽  
pp. 1807-1827 ◽  
Author(s):  
Becky Mansfield

Debates about the relationship between globalization and state power have often relied on a static view of spatial scales as discrete stages for social interaction. Focusing instead on the ‘production of scale’, several researchers have argued that globalization leads to rescaling of the state, as regulatory powers are realigned both upwards to supranational regimes and downwards to regional, local, and urban governance structures. Although this perspective quite usefully treats scale as relational, this ‘glocalization’ argument remains somewhat schematic and does not allow for a full range of possible scalar configurations. Highlighting instead heterogeneity of scalar relations, in this paper I analyze the ways that United States' fishery development in the North Pacific produced both national power and transnational economic activity. After extending political jurisdiction over waters up to 200 nautical miles from shore, the United States implemented fishery development policies that emphasized the ‘Americanization’ of the Alaska pollock fishery at the expense of an international, particularly Japanese, fishery. The outcomes of these policies, however, have been international partnerships, foreign direct investment, and increased international trade, all of which have made the pollock industry simultaneously national and transnational. Efforts to assert and implement control over ocean territory produced both the national state and globalization, which were mutually reinforcing rather than antagonistic. Treating national states and the global economy as complex, contingent scalar configurations facilitates analysis of the causes of variability in state – economy relations.


2009 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
L E Hanson ◽  
A L Hill ◽  
B J Jacobsen ◽  
L Panella

Plant Disease ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 81 (9) ◽  
pp. 1077-1081 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reuven Reuveni ◽  
Nativ Dudai ◽  
Eli Putievsky ◽  
W. H. Elmer ◽  
R. L. Wick

Growth chamber evaluation of several cultivars of basil and related herbs examined in the United States revealed that identical cultivars from different sources did not differ in their reactions to artificial inoculation with Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. basilicum. Cultivars differed in susceptibility to the pathogen: “Spicy globe” miniature was the most susceptible, and lemon basil (Ocimum basilicum var. citriodorum), Origanum majorana, and Thymus vulgaris were rated as not susceptible. Twenty isolates of F. oxysporum, originating from stems of diseased basil plants in Israel, were pathogenic on basil in growth chamber and greenhouse tests. Under artificial inoculation, 2 isolates of F. oxysporum f. sp. basilicum from stems were pathogenic to basil but not to 9 species representing Lamiaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Solanaceae, and Compositae indicating the specificity of the pathogen to basil. These isolates were used for additional resistance tests. Ocimum basilicum var. purpurascens (Exotic) and var. citriodorum were rated as not susceptible to the pathogen under artificial inoculation. Resistant germ plasm was identified in several basil plants of a local variety originally introduced from the United States and reselected at Newe Ya'ar. Seeds were planted in the greenhouse in naturally highly infested soil. Symptomless plants that survived in naturally infested soil were the source for F1 seeds of resistant germ plasm, which was confirmed by artificial inoculations with both isolates of the pathogen. Further selection tests to improve resistance were conducted up to the F4 generation in infested soil in the greenhouse. All individuals of the present genetic line remained symptomless, while all individual plants of the original susceptible cultivar defoliated 3 weeks after planting into infested soil, suggesting that the resistance may be a single, dominant gene. The causal organism was reisolated only from the susceptible plants and not from the symptomless resistant plants through all the experiments.


HortScience ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 27 (11) ◽  
pp. 1176g-1176
Author(s):  
R. L. Fery ◽  
P. D. Dukes

The Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture announced the release of `Bettergro Blackeye' southernpea on 24 July 1991. The new cultivar is well adapted for production throughout the southern United States where it can be expected to produce excellent yields of high quality, blackeye-type peas. `Bettergro Blackeye' outyielded the `Pinkeye Purple Hull-BVR' check in the 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1989 Regional Southernpea Cooperative Trials by 34.8, 14.3, 12.6, and 20.9%, respectively. Canned samples of fresh `Bettergro Blackeye' peas scored well in three years of quality evaluation tests. The new cultivar is resistant to the cowpea curculio, the major insect pest of the southernpea in southeastern production areas, and root knot, a severe root disease incited by several species of the root-knot nematode. `Bettergro Blackeye' plants have a greater tendency to produce a second crop than plants of most southernpea cultivars.


Plant Disease ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 101 (10) ◽  
pp. 1826-1826
Author(s):  
M. Hall ◽  
K. Lawrence ◽  
W. Groover ◽  
D. Shannon ◽  
T. Gonzalez

Plant Disease ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo Tzu Ho ◽  
Che-Chang Liang ◽  
P. Janet Chen

Cockscomb (Celosia argentea) is commonly found in subtropical and temperate zones of Africa, South America and South East Asia, and is a popular ornamental plant in the family Amaranthaceae. Cockscomb has been known to contain antiviral proteins, betalains, and anthocyanin, which can be applied in beneficial ways (2). In September 2020, a cockscomb plant (Celosia argentea var. cristata) showing typical galling root symptoms likely infected by root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne sp.) was collected from a garden in Taichung, Taiwan, and a quick exam of several individuals using MK7F/R primers (7) indicating they were M. enterolobii. Nematode population was established from a single egg mass and was later used for species identification and pathogenicity tests. Five perineal patterns of mature females from the single female population show round to oval shapes with weak lateral lines. Dorsal arches are moderate to high, almost squared, with the smooth ventral striae. Second-stage juveniles are vermiform and have a slender tail, tapering to rounded tip with distinct hyaline region at the tail terminus. Morphological measurements of 28 J2s revealed body length = 457.2 ± 20.6 (416.1-506.9) μm, body width = 16.0 ± 2.0 (13.4-20.3) μm, stylet length = 14.7 ± 0.5 (13.9-15.9) μm, dorsal gland orifice to the stylet base = 4.0 ± 0.5 (2.0-4.8) μm, and tail length = 56.0 ± 3.8 (47.4-60.3) μm. Female perineal patterns and morphometric data are similar to the original description of Meloidogyne enterolobii (9). DNA purified from approximately 1500 juveniles using GeneMark Tissue & Cell Genomic DNA Purification Kit (GeneMark, Taiwan) was used to amplify 18S rDNA fragment, D2-D3 expansion segments of 28S rDNA, and a COII region on mtDNA with primer sets 1A/MelR, D2A/D3B, and C2F3/1108, respectively (4,5,6). The 18S rDNA sequence (OK076893) of this study shares 99.94% nucleotide identity with those of M. enterolobii isolated from the United States (KP901058) and China (MN832688). D2D3 sequence of haplotype 1 (OK076898) shows 100% identity to those of M. enterolobii from China (MT193450) and Taiwan (KP411230). Sequence of haplotype 2 (OK076899) shows 99.86% identity to those of M. enterolobii from the United States (MN809527) and China (MN269945). Sequence of the COII region (OK086042) show 99.86% identity to that of M. enterolobii from China (MN269945). Phylogenetic trees of the three gene sequences were plotted following Ye et al.(10), revealing that the newly described root-knot nematode on Cockscomb is grouped with other M. enterolobii isolates. DNA fragment amplified by primer sets Me-F/R(3) and MK7F/R specifically targeting of M. enterolobii yielded 236 bp and 520 bp, respectively. Pathogenicity tests were assayed, from July to September 2021, on three-week-old nematode-free cockscomb plant directly germinated from seeds of SkyStar® (ASUSA SPIKE SEEDS, Taipei, Taiwan) planted in a 10.5 cm diameter pot filled with 600 ml sterilized peat moss: sand (1:1, v/v) soil in a 28℃walk-in chamber. Nematode eggs were extracted using 0.05% NaoCl as described by Vrain(8), and cockscomb plants (n=3) were inoculated by adding 6000 eggs (10 eggs/ cm3). Cockscomb plants treated with water were used as mock controls. Rf value of the inoculated plants were determined by the method of Belair and Benoit (1) 45 days after inoculation, and the average was 4.13. No galls were observed on the roots of control plants. The results confirmed that cockscomb is the new host of M. enterolobii. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of M. enterolobii on Celosia argentea var. cristata in Taiwan.


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