scholarly journals Ceratocystis Canker of Bitternut Hickory Caused by Ceratocystis smalleyi in the North-Central and Northeastern United States

Plant Disease ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 277-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.-H. Park ◽  
J. Juzwik ◽  
L. M. Haugen

Between 2006 and 2008, diffuse cankers without surrounding callus and callus-edged sunken cankers were observed on main stems of poletimber (13 to 28 cm in diameter at 1.4 m high) and sawtimber (>28 cm in diameter) bitternut hickory (Carya cordiformis) in Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Reddish, inner bark necrosis and reddish brown sapwood discoloration were associated with the cankers. Entry or exit holes of the hickory bark beetle (Scolytus quadrispinosus) were commonly associated with the cankers. Ceratocystis smalleyi was consistently isolated from the margins of cankers or discolored sapwood of assayed samples. When cultured on 2% malt yeast extract agar (MYEA), the isolates produced perithecia, ascospores, endoconidiophores, and conidia diagnostic of C. smalleyi (1). To confirm identification, the translation elongation factor (tef) 1-α gene and the internally transcribed spacer (ITS) regions were sequenced. DNA for both regions was extracted from mycelia growing on MYEA. The tef sequences (GenBank Accession Nos. GU201529–201539) and the ITS sequences (GenBank Accession Nos. GU190734–190745) were 98 to 100% similar to sequences of C. smalleyi isolates (GenBank Accession Nos. EF070408 and AY9907030–907032). Pathogenicity tests were conducted with local isolates (two per site) on healthy Carya cordiformis (13 to 28 cm in diameter) in forest stands in three states. In May 2007, one fungus-colonized MYEA disk or sterile MYEA agar was placed in one of two holes (0.6 cm in diameter) drilled to the cambium on stems of 10 trees in Allamakee County, IA. Sterile moist cotton and laboratory film held the disks in place. After 12 months, diffuse cankers were found for all but one fungus inoculation site; no cankers occurred with control inoculations. Reddish brown, inner bark necrosis (mean area 22.4 cm2) and sapwood discoloration (mean volume 38.1 cm3) were associated with the cankers. C. smalleyi was recovered from five of nine cankers, but not from the control wounds. In June 2008, 0.1 ml of spore suspension (1 × 104 ascospores/ml) of C. smalleyi or sterile dH20 was pipetted into four drilled holes (to the outer sapwood) of four trees in Chippewa County, WI. Holes were sealed with moist cotton and masking tape. Two months later, diffuse cankers with reddish inner bark (mean 49.7 cm2) surrounded 16 inoculation points; no cankers or inner bark necrosis was observed for the control points. In a similar trial, a spore suspension or sterile water was placed into four drilled holes covered with moist cotton and moldable putty on six trees in Olmstead County, MN. Fourteen months later, either diffuse or sunken cankers with reddish, inner bark necrosis (mean 22.3 cm2) were observed surrounding all inoculated points while all control points were callus closed. For the latter two trials, long, narrow discoloration (reddish brown) was found in the sapwood associated with each canker; no sapwood discoloration was observed for the control points. In addition, C. smalleyi was reisolated from all cankered stems in Wisconsin and from 21 of 24 cankers in Minnesota, but not from the controls. This report verifies the ability of C. smalleyi to cause a newly described canker disease on poletimber-sized hickories. We hypothesize that this disease is contributing to the death of hickory bark beetle-attacked Carya cordiformis in the eastern United States. Reference: (1) J. Johnson et al. Mycologia 97:1067, 2005.

Plant Disease ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 455-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.-H. Park ◽  
J. Juzwik

Multiple annual cankers were observed on the upper main stems of bitternut hickory (Carya cordiformis) exhibiting top dieback in Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, and Wisconsin during a 2006 to 2008 survey of declining hickory. The top-killed trees had normal-sized, green leaves below and the cankers were oval, sunken, and bounded by heavy callus that seemed to arrest further canker expansion. Fusarium solani was consistently isolated from the margins of inner bark lesions or discolored sapwood of the cankers. When cultured on potato dextrose agar, the isolates grew rapidly with abundant aerial mycelium. On carnation leaf agar, thick-walled macroconidia with 4 to 5 septa were produced in cream, blue-green, or blue sporodochia. Macroconidia were generally cylindrical with a blunt or rounded apical cell and a rounded or foot-shaped basal cell. Microconidia were oval to kidney shaped with 0 to 1 septa and were produced in false heads on elongate monophialides. Chlamydospores were formed singly or in pairs. These morphological characteristics are consistent with descriptions of F. solani (2). The identities of 42 representative isolates were confirmed by sequencing the translation elongation factor (tef) 1-α gene. BLAST analysis of the sequences from each isolate against the GenBank and FUSARIUM-ID database found 98 to 100% similarities to F. solani isolates (GenBank Accession Nos. DQ246841, DQ247025, DQ247282, and DQ247436 and FUSARIUM-ID isolate FD01041). Two haplotypes (BB and BC) were distinguished based on the tef 1-α gene sequences that differed by 10 bp. Pathogenicity tests were conducted with two isolates of each haplotype on asymptomatic C. cordiformis (12 to 21 cm in diameter) in forest stands. In May 2009 in Wabasha County, MN, 0.1-ml spore suspensions (1 × 104 macroconidia/ml) or sterile water was placed in one of three holes (0.6 cm in diameter) drilled to the cambium of 12 trees. The holes were sealed with moist cotton and moldable putty. A duplicate trial, but with BB and BC isolates from Wisconsin, was initiated in Chippewa County, WI in June 2009. The extent of inner bark necrosis was assessed 13 months after inoculation in both sites. Inoculations with F. solani in Minnesota resulted in inner bark lesions with average lengths of 20 and 30 mm for the BB and BC haplotypes, respectively. In Wisconsin, BB and BC haplotypes caused inner bark lesions with average lengths of 34 and 38 mm, respectively. While sunken or open cankers were found for all the BC isolate inoculations, relatively small and callus-bounded cankers were found for BB isolate inoculations. All control wounds were callus-closed with average wound lengths of 12 and 23 mm in Minnesota and Wisconsin, respectively. The same haplotype of F. solani used for inoculation was recovered from each canker as confirmed by analysis of tef 1-α gene sequences. F. solani was not obtained from control wounds. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a canker caused by F. solani on bitternut hickory (1). The same fungus has been previously reported to cause cankers on stems of other hardwood tree genera in the eastern United States and Canada. We hypothesize that numerous main-stem cankers caused by F. solani lead to top dieback of bitternut hickory. References: (1) D. F. Farr et al. Fungi on Plants and Plant Products in the United States. The American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN, 1989. (2) J. F. Leslie and B. A. Summerell. The Fusarium Laboratory Manual. Blackwell Publishing, Ames, IA, 2006.


1905 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 187-188
Author(s):  
J. R. De La Torre Bueno

Several entomologists have discussed with me the question of the distinguishing characters of Ranatra quadridentata, Stal, and Ranatra fusca, Pal. Beauv., and in consequence I venture to set forth here briefly and plainly the differences between these two and Ranatra kirkaldyi, n. sp, which I took for the first time in New York State.


Author(s):  
Federico Varese

Organized crime is spreading like a global virus as mobs take advantage of open borders to establish local franchises at will. That at least is the fear, inspired by stories of Russian mobsters in New York, Chinese triads in London, and Italian mafias throughout the West. As this book explains, the truth is more complicated. The author has spent years researching mafia groups in Italy, Russia, the United States, and China, and argues that mafiosi often find themselves abroad against their will, rather than through a strategic plan to colonize new territories. Once there, they do not always succeed in establishing themselves. The book spells out the conditions that lead to their long-term success, namely sudden market expansion that is neither exploited by local rivals nor blocked by authorities. Ultimately the inability of the state to govern economic transformations gives mafias their opportunity. In a series of matched comparisons, the book charts the attempts of the Calabrese 'Ndrangheta to move to the north of Italy, and shows how the Sicilian mafia expanded to early twentieth-century New York, but failed around the same time to find a niche in Argentina. The book explains why the Russian mafia failed to penetrate Rome but succeeded in Hungary. A pioneering chapter on China examines the challenges that triads from Taiwan and Hong Kong find in branching out to the mainland. This book is both a compelling read and a sober assessment of the risks posed by globalization and immigration for the spread of mafias.


1999 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 653-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Hart ◽  
C. Margaret Scarry

AbstractA radiocarbon date of A.D. 1070 ± 60 was linked to the remains of maize (Zea mays), beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), and squash (Cucñrbita pepo) at the Roundtop site in the Susquehanna River valley of New York by William Ritchie in 1969 and 1973 publications. This date established the presence of beans in the Northeast at an earlier time than in most other areas of the eastern United States, where they are generally rare before A.D. 1300. Subsequently beans have been reported in pre-A.D.1300 contexts from at least eight other sites in the Northeast. Recent calibrated AMS dates on beans from Roundtop are no earlier than A.D. 1300 (Hart 1999a). Given that the original Roundtop date was responsible for the acceptance of early beans in the Northeast, the AMS dates suggested that beans may not become archaeologically visible there until ca. A.D. 1300. AMS dates on beans from four other sites, reported here, substantiate the Roundtop results. Beans and by extension maize-beans-squash intercropping are not evident in the Northeast before ca. A.D. 1300.


Plant Disease ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 93 (4) ◽  
pp. 386-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
George W. Sundin ◽  
Nicole A. Werner ◽  
Keith S. Yoder ◽  
Herb S. Aldwinckle

The bacterial antagonists Pseudomonas fluorescens A506, Pantoea agglomerans C9-1, and Pantoea agglomerans E325 and preparations of Bacillus subtilis QST 713 containing bacterial endospores and lipopeptide metabolites were evaluated for efficacy in controlling fire blight in Michigan, New York, and Virginia. When examined individually, the biological control materials were not consistently effective in reducing blossom infection. The average reduction in blossom infection observed in experiments conducted between 2001 and 2007 was variable and ranged from 9.1 to 36.1%, while control with streptomycin was consistent and ranged from 59.0 to 67.3%. Incidence of blossom colonization by the bacterial antagonists was inconsistent, and <60% of stigmata had the antagonists present in 12 of 25 experiments. Consistent control of blossom infection was observed when the biological control materials were integrated into programs with streptomycin, resulting in a reduction of the number of streptomycin applications needed to yield similar levels of control. Our results indicate that the prospects for biological control of fire blight in the eastern United States are currently not high due to the variability in efficacy of existing biological control options.


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