Genetic Variability of Palm Lethal Decline Phytoplasmas in the Caribbean Basin and Florida, U.S.A., Based on a Multilocus Analysis

Palm lethal decline phytoplasmas are an important group of plant pathogens that cause death in a variety of palm species throughout the Caribbean basin and the southeastern United States. The 16SrIV-D phytoplasma was introduced to the state of Florida, United States; it has since caused severe economic losses to the green industries of Florida and is threating natural ecosystems because of its ability to infect the native palm Sabal palmetto. In this study, the genetic variability of the 16SrIV-D phytoplasma was assessed over a 10-year period to determine if multiple introductions had occurred or if natural mutations were occurring. Furthermore, the genetic variability of the palm lethal decline phytoplasma group (16SrIV) was assessed with a multiple locus analysis using the 16S ribosomal RNA gene, the 16S-23S intergenic spacer region, and secA and groEL genes. Overall, no variability of the 16SrIV-D phytoplasma was documented in Florida over a 10-year period. The multilocus analysis showed support for three distinct species of the phytoplasma in the Caribbean basin that infect palms and further support that the 16SrIV-C from Tanzania is not closely related. Furthermore, 16SrIV-B and 16SrIV-D were found to be the same phytoplasma based on 100% identity between the two based on intergenic spacer region, secA, and groEL analysis. This study represents the first robust, multilocus analysis of palm-infecting phytoplasmas from the Caribbean and sheds light on the phylogeny and evolution of the group.

Download Full-text

United States Policy Towards The Caribbean Basin

10.4324/9781003226185-3 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 43-70

Author(s):

Anthony Payne ◽

Paul Sutton ◽

Tony Thorndike

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Caribbean Basin ◽

United States Policy ◽

The Caribbean

Download Full-text

British Foreign Policy in the Caribbean Basin 1938–1945: Oil, Nationalism and Relations with the United States

Journal of Latin American Studies ◽

10.1017/s0022216x00020083 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 279-294 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

John Knape

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Foreign Policy ◽

Policy Process ◽

Ad Hoc ◽

The United States ◽

Caribbean Basin ◽

British Foreign Policy ◽

The Caribbean

The formulation of foreign policy is at best an inchoate process. The very term implies an orthodoxy of identification, pursuit and maintenance of perceived interests which is often patently lacking in reality. When a nation is beset by a declining capacity to exert influence in a particular region as a result both of competition from other powers and of incipient assertiveness on the part of local interests, the foreign-policy process may be reduced to one of administering ad hoc responses to particular developments which appear to lack any overall rationale.

Download Full-text

Hydrodynamics of the Caribbean Low-Level Jet and Its Relationship to Precipitation

Journal of Climate ◽

10.1175/2009jcli3210.1 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 23 (6) ◽

pp. 1477-1494 ◽

Cited By ~ 79

Author(s):

Kerry H. Cook ◽

Edward K. Vizy

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

South America ◽

The United States ◽

Caribbean Basin ◽

Low Level ◽

The North ◽

South Central ◽

Central United States ◽

Low Level Jet ◽

The Caribbean

Abstract The easterly Caribbean low-level jet (CLLJ) is a prominent climate feature over the Intra-America Seas, and it is associated with much of the water vapor transport from the tropical Atlantic into the Caribbean Basin. In this study, the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) is analyzed to improve the understanding of the dynamics of the CLLJ and its relationship to regional rainfall variations. Horizontal momentum balances are examined to understand how jet variations on both diurnal and seasonal time scales are controlled. The jet is geostrophic to the first order. Its previously documented semidiurnal cycle (with minima at about 0400 and 1600 LT) is caused by semidiurnal cycling of the meridional geopotential height gradient in association with changes in the westward extension of the North Atlantic subtropical high (NASH). A diurnal cycle is superimposed, associated with a meridional land–sea breeze (solenoidal circulation) onto the north coast of South America, so that the weakest jet velocities occur at 1600 LT. The CLLJ is present throughout the year, and it is known to vary in strength semiannually. Peak magnitudes in July are related to the seasonal cycle of the NASH, and a second maximum in February is caused by heating over northern South America. From May through September, zonal geopotential gradients associated with summer heating over Central America and Mexico induce meridional flow. The CLLJ splits into two branches, including a southerly branch that connects with the Great Plains low-level jet (GPLLJ) bringing moisture into the central United States. During the rest of the year, the flow remains essentially zonal across the Caribbean Basin and into the Pacific. A strong (weak) CLLJ is associated with reduced (enhanced) rainfall over the Caribbean Sea throughout the year in the NARR. The relationship with precipitation over land depends on the season. Despite the fact that the southerly branch of the CLLJ feeds into the meridional GPLLJ in May through September, variations in the CLLJ strength during these months do not impact U.S. precipitation, because the CLLJ strength is varying in response to regional-scale forcing and not to changes in the large-scale circulation. During the cool season, there are statistically significant correlations between the CLLJ index and rainfall over the United States. When the CLLJ is strong, there is anomalous northward moisture transport across the Gulf of Mexico into the central United States and pronounced rainfall increases over Louisiana and Texas. A weak jet is associated with anomalous westerly flow across the southern Caribbean region and significantly reduced rainfall over the south-central United States. No connection between the intensity of the CLLJ and drought over the central United States is found. There are only three drought summers in the NARR period (1980, 1988, and 2006), and the CLLJ was extremely weak in 1988 but not in 1980 or 2006.

Download Full-text

Investigation of superstorm Sandy 2012 in a multi-disciplinary approach

Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/nhessd-1-625-2013 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 625-679 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

M. Kunz ◽

B. Mühr ◽

T. Kunz-Plapp ◽

J.E. Daniell ◽

B. Khazai ◽

...

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Hurricane Katrina ◽

The United States ◽

Hurricane Sandy ◽

Economic Losses ◽

Weather System ◽

Cascading Effects ◽

The Us ◽

The Caribbean ◽

The Impact

Abstract. At the end of October 2012, Hurricane Sandy moved from the Caribbean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean and entered the United States not far from New York. Along its track, Sandy caused more than 200 fatalities and severe losses in Jamaica, Bahamas, Haiti, Cuba, and the US. This paper demonstrates the capability and potential for near-real time analysis of catastrophes. It is shown that the impact of Sandy was driven by the superposition of different extremes (high wind speeds, storm surge, heavy precipitation) and by cascading effects. In particular the interaction between Sandy and an extra-tropical weather system created a huge storm that affected large areas in the US. It is examined how Sandy compares to historic hurricane events, both from a hydro-meteorological and impact perspective. The distribution of losses to different sectors of the economy is calculated with simple input-output models as well as government estimates. Direct economic losses are estimated about 4.2 billion US$ in the Caribbean and between 78 and 97 billion US$ for the US. Indirect economic losses from power outages is estimated in the order of 16.3 billion US$. Modelling sector-specific dependencies, quantifies total business interruption losses between 10.8 and 15.5 billion US$. Thus, seven years after the record impact of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Hurricane Sandy is the second costliest hurricane in the history of the United States.

Download Full-text

Selling the Caribbean

Worldview ◽

10.1017/s0084255900034148 ◽

1984 ◽

Vol 27 (2) ◽

pp. 18-20

Author(s):

John Tessitore

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

The United States ◽

Economic Recovery ◽

Annual Conference ◽

Caribbean Basin ◽

Organization Of American States ◽

American States ◽

Caribbean Basin Initiative ◽

The Caribbean ◽

Recovery Act

Last November nearly two thousand conferees from the United States and twenty-six Caribbean nations gathered in that most Caribbean of all cities, Miami. The occasion was the annual conference on trade, investment, and development in the Caribbean Basin—die seventh such conference to date. This year, however, there was a difference. President Reagan had announced his Caribbean Basin Initiative in February of 1982 at a meeting of the Organization of American States; and on August 5, 1983, following often delicate negotiations with Congress and a score of governments, the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act became law.

Download Full-text

The United States and the Security Agenda in the Caribbean Basin after 9/11

US National Security Concerns in Latin America and the Caribbean ◽

10.1057/9781137379528.0005 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Carlos Oliva Campos

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

The United States ◽

Caribbean Basin ◽

The Caribbean

Download Full-text

Genetic Analysis of a Novel Xylella fastidiosa Subspecies Found in the Southwestern United States

Applied and Environmental Microbiology ◽

10.1128/aem.00609-09 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 75 (17) ◽

pp. 5631-5638 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

Jennifer J. Randall ◽

Natalie P. Goldberg ◽

John D. Kemp ◽

Maxim Radionenko ◽

Jason M. French ◽

...

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

New Mexico ◽

Xylella Fastidiosa ◽

Intergenic Spacer ◽

Southwestern United States ◽

Regional Survey ◽

Intergenic Spacer Region ◽

Leaf Scorch ◽

Landscape Plant ◽

Multiple Loci

ABSTRACT Xylella fastidiosa, the causal agent of several scorch diseases, is associated with leaf scorch symptoms in Chitalpa tashkentensis, a common ornamental landscape plant used throughout the southwestern United States. For a number of years, many chitalpa trees in southern New Mexico and Arizona exhibited leaf scorch symptoms, and the results from a regional survey show that chitalpa trees from New Mexico, Arizona, and California are frequently infected with X. fastidiosa. Phylogenetic analysis of multiple loci was used to compare the X. fastidiosa infecting chitalpa strains from New Mexico, Arizona, and trees imported into New Mexico nurseries with previously reported X. fastidiosa strains. Loci analyzed included the 16S ribosome, 16S-23S ribosomal intergenic spacer region, gyrase-B, simple sequence repeat sequences, X. fastidiosa-specific sequences, and the virulence-associated protein (VapD). This analysis indicates that the X. fastidiosa isolates associated with infected chitalpa trees in the Southwest are a highly related group that is distinct from the four previously defined taxons X. fastidiosa subsp. fastidiosa (piercei), X. fastidiosa subsp. multiplex, X. fastidiosa subsp. sandyi, and X. fastidiosa subsp. pauca. Therefore, the classification proposed for this new subspecies is X. fastidiosa subsp. tashke.

Download Full-text