scholarly journals Quantitative Detection of Pear-Pathogenic Stemphylium vesicarium in Orchards

2009 ◽  
Vol 99 (12) ◽  
pp. 1377-1386 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Köhl ◽  
B. H. Groenenboom-de Haas ◽  
P. Kastelein ◽  
V. Rossi ◽  
C. Waalwijk

Isolates of Stemphylium vesicarium causing brown spot of pear can be distinguished from nonpathogenic isolates of S. vesicarium from pear or from other hosts on the basis of distinctive amplified fragment length polymorphism fingerprinting profiles. DNA fragments specific for isolates pathogenic to pear were identified and a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was developed on the sequence from one of these specific DNA loci. This TaqMan PCR has a high sensitivity with a dynamic range for reliable quantification between 1 ng and 100 fg of DNA. The method detected pear-pathogenic isolates of S. vesicarium originating from four different European countries and various regions within those countries. No cross-reaction was found with either the nonpathogenic isolates of S. vesicarium tested or isolates belonging to other Stemphylium spp. or related fungi. The pathogen was detected on leaves with brown-spot symptoms originating from six different locations in The Netherlands, Italy, and Spain. Pear-pathogenic S. vesicarium populations were monitored on crop residues in two Dutch orchards between October 2007 and October 2008. Brown spot had been observed at both orchards at the end of the growing season of 2007. In one location, pear-pathogenic S. vesicarium was detected only sporadically on crop residues and no brown-spot symptoms were observed on fruit in 2008. At the other location, a pathogenic population was found on fallen pear leaves and on other crop residues but this population decreased during winter. From the beginning of the growing season in 2008 onward, the pathogen population could not be detected and the disease incidence was only 0.6%. The TaqMan PCR will allow more detailed studies on epidemiology of brown spot and on the effect of disease control measures.

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 1990 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcella Loebler ◽  
Claudia Sánchez ◽  
Elisabete Muchagato Maurício ◽  
Eugénio Diogo ◽  
Mário Santos ◽  
...  

Stemphylium vesicarium (Wallr.) E. G. Simmons is the pathogen responsible of brown spot disease in pear and has become one of the main concerns for European pear producers. In Portugal, S. vesicarium is responsible for significant yield reduction and economic losses in “Rocha” pear (Pyrus communis L. cv Rocha) production. Considering the antimicrobial potential of propolis, the high incidence of brown spot in pears and the emergence of fungicides resistance in S. vesicarium, this study aimed to evaluate the potential of Portuguese propolis as an alternative strategy to control brown spot disease in “Rocha” pear. In vitro assays showed that propolis extracts were able to inhibit up to 90% the S. vesicarium mycelial growth. In vivo assays in artificially wounded and inoculated “Rocha” pears showed that, compared to the control, the disease incidence decreased up to 25% and the lesions diameter up to 57%, in fruits treated with propolis. Moreover, propolis seems to be more efficient in reducing the disease incidence when applied after pathogen inoculation (curative assay) than when applied before pathogen inoculation (prophylactic assay). Thus, the results suggest that propolis extracts have potential to be applied as part of an integrated approach for the control of brown spot of pear.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hua-Ying Fu ◽  
Sheng-Ren Sun ◽  
Jin-Da Wang ◽  
Kashif Ahmad ◽  
Heng-Bo Wang ◽  
...  

Ratoon stunting disease (RSD) of sugarcane, one of the most important diseases seriously affecting the productivity of sugarcane crops, was caused by the bacterial agentLeifsonia xylisubsp.xyli(Lxx). A TaqMan probe-based real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay was established in this study for the quantification ofLxxdetection in sugarcane stalk juice. A pair of PCR primers (Pat1-QF/Pat1-QR) and a fluorogenic probe (Pat1-QP) targeting thePart1gene ofLxxwere used for the qPCR assay. The assay had a detection limit of 100 copies of plasmid DNA and 100 fg ofLxxgenomic DNA, which was 100-fold more sensitive than the conventional PCR. Fifty (28.7%) of 174 stalk juice samples from two field trials were tested to be positive by qPCR assay, whereas, by conventional PCR, only 12.1% (21/174) were tested to be positive with a published primer pair CxxITSf#5/CxxITSr#5 and 15.5% (27/174) were tested to be positive with a newly designed primer pair Pat1-F2/Pat1-R2. The new qPCR assay can be used as an alternative to current diagnostic methods forLxx, especially when dealing with certificating a large number of healthy cane seedlings and determining disease incidence accurately in commercial fields.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Surendhar ◽  
Y. Anbuselvam ◽  
J. Johnny Subakar Ivin

Rice is one of the most widely consumed staple food for more than half of the population in the world. Brown spot caused by Helminthosporium oryzae accounts for 5% yield loss worldwide annually. Adversely affected fields show yield loss as high as 45%. The present study focuses on the several management aspects that are currently used to curb out the disease incidence and measures to be taken in near future for designing effective disease management protocol. The disease is of historic significance and a devasting outbroke in the Bengal Province during 1943 ended as the Great Bengal Famine resulting in starvation and an estimated demise of 2.1 to 3 million people. Brown spot is still devastating on looking the present scenario of damage to rice. Different approaches have been adopted ranging from the use of brown spot resistant rice cultivars, chemical ameliorations and biological control measures for the management of the disease. But, still the disease seems to be chronic and adverse in the current scenario. In this review, we have highlighted epidemiology, control measures practiced and several quantitative and qualitative gaps with respect to disease management, which if rectified, would lead to a strong impact on crop disease control and the sustainable Rice production that are pertinent to the present situation of farmers.


2014 ◽  
Vol 104 (11) ◽  
pp. 1192-1200 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Puig ◽  
C. Moragrega ◽  
L. Ruz ◽  
E. Montesinos ◽  
I. Llorente

Brown spot of pear is a fungal disease of economic importance caused by Stemphylium vesicarium that affects the pear crops in Europe. Due to the characteristics of this disease and the moderate efficacy of available fungicides, the effectiveness of control measures is very limited; however, synthetic antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) may be a complement to these fungicides. In the present study, 12 AMPs of the CECMEL11 library were screened for fungicidal activity against S. vesicarium. In vitro experiments showed that eight AMPs significantly reduced the germination of conidia. The most effective peptides, BP15, BP22, and BP25, reduced fungal growth and sporulation at concentrations below 50 μM. Leaf assays showed that preventive application of BP15 and BP22 did not reduce infection; however, when the peptides were applied curatively, infection was significantly reduced. The use of a BP15 fluorescein 5-isothiocyanate conjugate revealed that the peptide binds to hyphae and germ tubes and produces malformations that irreversibly stop their development.


Plant Disease ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 84 (6) ◽  
pp. 631-637 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Llorente ◽  
P. Vilardell ◽  
R. Bugiani ◽  
I. Gherardi ◽  
E. Montesinos

A forecasting model (BSPcast) developed for prediction of brown spot (Stemphylium vesicarium) of pear was evaluated as an advisory system for reduced fungicide use in disease management programs. Eleven trials were performed during 1995, 1996, and 1997 in five orchards in two different climatic areas in Catalunya (Spain) and Emilia-Romagna (Italy). Values of 3-day cumulative daily infection risk (CR) provided by the model were used to determine risk periods during the growing season of pear and were taken as thresholds to schedule fungicide sprays. The fungicide application programs tested using the model consisted of guided schedules with CR action thresholds of 0.4, 0.5, or 0.6, and fixed sprays following a standard commercial schedule. In nine out of 10 trials, no significant differences were observed in disease incidence on fruit at harvest between the fixed-spray commercial schedule and guided sprays using thresholds of 0.4 or 0.5. The average savings in number of fungicide sprays applied using BSPcast compared with the fixed-spray schedule were 20 to 70% when using fungicides with a 15-day protection period (kresoxim-methyl or procymidone) and ranged from 20 to 50% when using a fungicide with a 7-day protection period (thiram).


2021 ◽  
pp. 002203452110159
Author(s):  
A.P. Meethil ◽  
S. Saraswat ◽  
P.P. Chaudhary ◽  
S.M. Dabdoub ◽  
P.S. Kumar

On March 16, 2020, 198,000 dentists in the United States closed their doors to patients, fueled by concerns that aerosols generated during dental procedures are potential vehicles for transmission of respiratory pathogens through saliva. Our knowledge of these aerosol constituents is sparse and gleaned from case reports and poorly controlled studies. Therefore, we tracked the origins of microbiota in aerosols generated during ultrasonic scaling, implant osteotomy, and restorative procedures by combining reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (to identify and quantify SARS-CoV-2) and 16S sequencing (to characterize the entire microbiome) with fine-scale enumeration and source tracking. Linear discriminant analysis of Bray-Curtis dissimilarity distances revealed significant class separation between the salivary microbiome and aerosol microbiota deposited on the operator, patient, assistant, or the environment ( P < 0.01, analysis of similarities). We also discovered that 78% of the microbiota in condensate could be traced to the dental irrigant, while saliva contributed to a median of 0% of aerosol microbiota. We also identified low copy numbers of SARS-CoV-2 virus in the saliva of several asymptomatic patients but none in aerosols generated from these patients. Together, the bacterial and viral data encourage us to conclude that when infection control measures are used, such as preoperative mouth rinses and intraoral high-volume evacuation, dental treatment is not a factor in increasing the risk for transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in asymptomatic patients and that standard infection control practices are sufficiently capable of protecting personnel and patients from exposure to potential pathogens. This information is of immediate urgency, not only for safe resumption of dental treatment during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but also to inform evidence-based selection of personal protection equipment and infection control practices at a time when resources are stretched and personal protection equipment needs to be prioritized.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamel Kamal Sabet ◽  
Magdy Mohamed Saber ◽  
Mohamed Adel-Aziz El-Naggar ◽  
Nehal Samy El-Mougy ◽  
Hatem Mohamed El-Deeb ◽  
...  

Five commercial composts were evaluated to suppress the root-rot pathogens (Fusarium solani (Mart.) App. and Wr, Pythium ultimum Trow, Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn, and Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc.) of cucumber plants under in vitro and greenhouse conditions. In vitro tests showed that all tested unautoclaved and unfiltrated composts water extracts (CWEs) had inhibitor effect against pathogenic fungi, compared to autoclaved and filtrated ones. Also, the inhibitor effects of 40 bacteria and 15 fungi isolated from composts were tested against the mycelial growth of cucumber root-rot pathogens. Twenty two bacteria and twelve fungal isolates had antagonistic effect against root-rot pathogens. The antagonistic fungal isolates were identified as 6 isolates belong to the genus Aspergillus spp., 5 isolates belong to the genus Penicillium spp. and one isolate belong to the genus Chaetomium spp. Under greenhouse conditions, the obtained results in pot experiment using artificial infested soil with cucumber root-rot pathogens showed that the compost amended soil reduced the percentage of disease incidence, pathogenic fungi population, and improved the cucumber vegetative parameters as shoot length, root length, fresh weight, and dry weight. These results suggested that composts are consequently considered as control measure against cucumber root-rot pathogens.


Plant Disease ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 90 (12) ◽  
pp. 1511-1516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isidre Llorente ◽  
Albert Vilardell ◽  
Emilio Montesinos

The capacity for germination and pathogenicity to pear leaves of ascospores of Pleospora allii, the teleomorph of Stemphylium vesicarium, causal agent of brown spot of pear, were studied in vitro. Most ascospores germinated within 1 h at temperatures between 15 and 20°C, and the optimum temperature for germination was 18.9°C. Infections developed on wounded and non-wounded detached pear leaves, but were more frequent on wounded leaves. The minimum infective dose was one ascospore per wound. Biological, chemical, and mechanical methods for decreasing overwintering inoculum of P. allii were evaluated. Ascospores were discharged from March to May, depending on the orchard and year. Leaf shredding or removal were the most effective methods of reducing overwintering inoculum. Biological control methods based on application of Thichodermasp. formulations were partially effective. Chemical methods based on copper and urea treatments were ineffective.


Plant Disease ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 103 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miloš Stevanović ◽  
Danijela Ristić ◽  
Svetlana Živković ◽  
Goran Aleksić ◽  
Ivana Stanković ◽  
...  

Blackberry cane diseases with the symptoms of necrosis, canker, and wilting are caused by several fungi worldwide. Surveys conducted from 2013 to 2016 in Serbia revealed the occurrence of Gnomoniopsis idaeicola, the causal agent of cane canker and wilting, which was found to be distributed in almost half of the surveyed orchards, in three blackberry cultivars, and with disease incidence of up to 80%. Wide distribution and high disease incidence suggest that G. idaeicola has been present in Serbia for some time. Out of 427 samples, a total of 65 G. idaeicola isolates were obtained (isolation rate of 34.19%). Reference isolates, originating from different localities, were conventionally and molecularly identified and characterized. G. idaeicola was detected in single and mixed infections with fungi from genera Paraconiothyrium, Colletotrichum, Diaporthe, Botryosphaeria, Botrytis, Septoria, Neofusicoccum, and Discostroma, and no diagnostically specific symptoms could be related directly to the G. idaeicola infection. In orchards solely infected with G. idaeicola, blackberry plant mortality was up to 40%, and yield loses were estimated at 50%. G. idaeicola isolates included in this study demonstrated intraspecies diversity in morphological, biological, pathogenic, and molecular features, which indicates that population in Serbia may be of different origin. This is the first record of a massive outbreak of G. idaeicola infection, illustrating its capability of harmful influence on blackberry production. This study represents the initial step in studying G. idaeicola as a new blackberry pathogen in Serbia, aiming at developing efficient control measures.


2019 ◽  
Vol 109 (4) ◽  
pp. 571-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xingkai Cheng ◽  
Xiaoxue Ji ◽  
Yanzhen Ge ◽  
Jingjing Li ◽  
Wenzhe Qi ◽  
...  

Stalk rot is one of the most serious and widespread diseases in maize, and effective control measures are currently lacking. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a new biological agent to manage this disease. An antagonistic bacterial strain, TA-1, was isolated from rhizosphere soil and identified as Bacillus methylotrophicus based on morphological and biochemical characterization and 16S ribosomal RNA and gyrB gene sequence analyses. TA-1 exhibited a strong antifungal effect on the growth of Fusarium graminearum mycelium, with 86.3% inhibition at a concentration of 108 CFU per ml. Transmission electron microscopy showed that TA-1 could disrupt the cellular structure of the fungus, induce necrosis, and degrade the cell wall. Greenhouse and field trials were performed to evaluate the biocontrol efficacy of TA-1 on maize stalk rot, and the results of greenhouse experiment revealed that the bacterium significantly reduced disease incidence and disease index. Seeds treated with a 108 CFU ml−1 cell suspension had the highest disease suppression at 86.8%. Results of field trials show that seed bacterization with TA-1 could not only reduce maize stalk rot incidence but also increase maize height, stem diameter, and grain yield. The lipopeptide antibiotics were isolated from the culture supernatants of TA-1 and identified as surfactins and iturins. Consequently, B. methylotrophicus TA-1 is a potential biocontrol agent against maize stalk rot.


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