Black Leg and Chlorotic Leaf Spot Occurrence on Brassicaceae Crop and Weed Hosts

Black leg (caused by Plenodomus lingam and P. biglobosus) and chlorotic leaf spot (caused by Pyrenopeziza brassicae) are economically important fungal diseases of Brassicaceae crops. Surveys of seed fields and weed hosts were conducted to understand the distribution and prevalence of these diseases in Oregon after black leg and chlorotic leaf spot outbreaks occurred in Brassicaceae crops in 2014. Post-harvest black leg ratings for these diseases were conducted in 2015 and 2016 in seed fields of canola, forage rape, and turnip. Black leg incidence was greater in turnip (51%) compared to canola (29%) and forage rape (25%). The overall average disease incidence was greater on seed crops harvested in 2015 (46%) compared to crops harvested in 2016 (28%). A disease survey of wild Brassicaceae plants was conducted along Interstate 5 in Oregon. Brassicaceae weed population sites were identified and 40 sites were sampled for these diseases. Black leg and chlorotic leaf spot were present in 60% and 45%, respectively, of the sampled sites. Both species of Plenodomus were detected in weed populations with P. lingam being the predominant species recovered (95%). The northernmost sample site with black leg was found less than 32 km from the Oregon-Washington border, and southernmost site occurred within 32 km of the Oregon-California border. Chlorotic leaf spot was detected less than 32 km from Oregon-Washington border, whereas the southernmost detection was approximately 164 km from the Oregon-California border. Based on this study, infected crop residues and weed hosts may facilitate persistence and spread of these pathogens.

The patient-reported experience of living with Wilson disease

Aim: This research was conducted to collect patient-reported data on the experience of living with Wilson disease and to broaden the existing knowledge of a rare neurometabolic disease with varied clinical manifestations. Materials & methods: Adult patients with Wilson disease or caregivers were recruited through a Wilson disease association or advocacy group, and asked to complete an online survey that assessed various aspects of living with Wilson disease. Survey data were analyzed descriptively. Results: 21 adults with Wilson disease completed the survey. Respondents reported experiencing signs, symptoms and diagnoses related to movement (e.g., involuntary muscle contractions [n = 9, 42.9%]), cognition (e.g., anxiety [n = 15, 71.4%]) and liver problems. Respondents most frequently reported medication regimen and financial burden as the most bothersome impacts of Wilson disease. Conclusion: The data expand the existing knowledge of this rare neurometabolic disease with heterogeneous clinical manifestations.

Occurrence of Leaf Spot of Avena sativa Caused by Canariomyces microsporus in China

Oats (Avena sativa) are an important fodder crop in the vast ranges of northern and northwestern China, given the growing demand from livestock. (Yang et al. 2010). In July 2020, diseased leaf samples of cultivar Dingyan-2 were collected from fields near Gonghui Town, Zhangbei County, Zhangjiakou City (41.35° N, 114.55° E). These leaves showed oval to irregular yellowish-brown spots (0.5 to 6 mm in diameter) surrounded by a yellowish halo progressing to form narrowly striped spots fusing into lesions in severe cases. In a disease survey of six fields (about 1.5 ha in total), 35% of the plants were infected with a disease severity ranging from 0 to 20%. To isolate the pathogen, 12 symptomatic leaves (two leaves for each plant) were arbitrarily sampled from different locations across the fields and small pieces (5 mm2) of diseased leaves were excised from the border between diseased and healthy tissue. Excised tissue pieces were surface sterilized by immersion in 75 % ethanol for 30 s, then 1% NaClO solution for 1 min, rinsed in sterilized distilled water three times, and transferred to potato dextrose agar (PDA). Colonies on PDA were 41–46 mm diam in 10 d at 25 °C with surface texture floccose, obverse pale mouse grey to black due to ascomata and aerial mycelium, and reverse pale olivaceous. Asci were ellipsoidal to ovoid, 12–18 × 11–15 μm (av.= 15 ×12 μm; n=30) in spore-bearing part, containing eight irregularly arranged ascospores. Ascospores were 1-celled, dark brown when mature, smooth, ellipsoidal, with attenuated ends, 7.5–8.4 × 4.3–5.5 μm (av.= 8.1 × 5.0 μm; n=50), with an apical or slightly subapical germ pore. These morphological characteristics were consistent with previous descriptions of Canariomyces microsporus (syn. Thielavia microspora, Wang et al. 2019). For molecular identification, genomic DNA (isolate MNK-Y1) was extracted and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and β-tubulin (tub2) were amplified and sequenced by using the primers ITS1 and ITS4 (White et al. 1990) and Btub2Fd and Btub4Rd (Woudenberg et al. 2009). Sequences were deposited in GenBank under accessions MW080329 (ITS) and MW557539 (tub2). Blast search revealed that the ITS and tub2 sequences matched 99.4%, 100% (471 bp out of 474 bp; 648 bp out of 648 bp) with the sequences of the ex-type isolate CBS 276.74 of C. microsporus accession number MH860852.1 and MK926899. Koch’s postulates were proven to confirm the pathogenicity of isolate MNK-Y1. Eight-week-old healthy oat seedlings of cv. Dingyan 2 were grown in the greenhouse, at 15-20 ℃ under 30-40% of relative humidity. Ten oat plants were spray inoculated with a spore suspension (5×105spores/ml; isolate MNK-Y1). Another ten oat plants were sprayed with sterile water as controls. All plants were covered with a transparent glass cover and a black polyethylene bag to maintain relative humidity and dark for two days. After 15 days, all the inoculated plants had developed yellowish-brown spots similar to those observed in the field whereas the control plants sprayed with sterile water remained healthy. The pathogen was reisolated from inoculated plants and identified as C. microsporus based on morphological characteristics and the molecular methods described above. This species has previously been isolated from saline and desert soils as well as from leaves of Thymus (Wang et al. 2019). To our knowledge, this is the first report of leaf spot of oat caused by C. microsporus in China.

Predicting disease occurrence of cabbage Verticillium wilt in monoculture using species distribution modeling

Background Although integrated pest management (IPM) is essential for conservation agriculture, this method can be inadequate for severely infected fields. The ability to predict the potential occurrence of severe infestation of soil-borne disease would enable farmers to adopt suitable methods for high-risk areas, such as soil disinfestation, and apply other options for lower risk areas. Recently, researchers have used species distribution modeling (SDM) to predict the occurrence of target plant and animal species based on various environmental variables. In this study, we applied this technique to predict and map the occurrence probability of a soil-borne disease, Verticillium wilt, using cabbage as a case study. Methods A disease survey assessing the distribution of Verticillium wilt in cabbage fields in Tsumagoi village (central Honshu, Japan) was conducted two or three times annually from 1997 to 2013. Road density, elevation and topographic wetness index (TWI) were selected as explanatory variables for disease occurrence potential. A model of occurrence probability of Verticillium wilt was constructed using the MaxEnt software for SDM analysis. As the disease survey was mainly conducted in an agricultural area, the area was weighted as “Bias Grid” and area except for the agricultural area was set as background. Results Grids with disease occurrence showed a high degree of coincidence with those with a high probability occurrence. The highest contribution to the prediction of disease occurrence was the variable road density at 97.1%, followed by TWI at 2.3%, and elevation at 0.5%. The highest permutation importance was road density at 93.0%, followed by TWI at 7.0%, while the variable elevation at 0.0%. This method of predicting disease probability occurrence can help with disease monitoring in areas with high probability occurrence and inform farmers about the selection of control measures.

Comparison of pediatric scoring systems for mortality in septic patients and the impact of missing information on their predictive power: a retrospective analysis

Background Scores can assess the severity and course of disease and predict outcome in an objective manner. This information is needed for proper risk assessment and stratification. Furthermore, scoring systems support optimal patient care, resource management and are gaining in importance in terms of artificial intelligence. Objective This study evaluated and compared the prognostic ability of various common pediatric scoring systems (PRISM, PRISM III, PRISM IV, PIM, PIM2, PIM3, PELOD, PELOD 2) in order to determine which is the most applicable score for pediatric sepsis patients in terms of timing of disease survey and insensitivity to missing data. Methods We retrospectively examined data from 398 patients under 18 years of age, who were diagnosed with sepsis. Scores were assessed at ICU admission and re-evaluated on the day of peak C-reactive protein. The scores were compared for their ability to predict mortality in this specific patient population and for their impairment due to missing data. Results PIM (AUC 0.76 (0.68–0.76)), PIM2 (AUC 0.78 (0.72–0.78)) and PIM3 (AUC 0.76 (0.68–0.76)) scores together with PRSIM III (AUC 0.75 (0.68–0.75)) and PELOD 2 (AUC 0.75 (0.66–0.75)) are the most suitable scores for determining patient prognosis at ICU admission. Once sepsis is pronounced, PELOD 2 (AUC 0.84 (0.77–0.91)) and PRISM IV (AUC 0.8 (0.72–0.88)) become significantly better in their performance and count among the best prognostic scores for use at this time together with PRISM III (AUC 0.81 (0.73–0.89)). PELOD 2 is good for monitoring and, like the PIM scores, is also largely insensitive to missing values. Conclusion Overall, PIM scores show comparatively good performance, are stable as far as timing of the disease survey is concerned, and they are also relatively stable in terms of missing parameters. PELOD 2 is best suitable for monitoring clinical course.

Determining How Far an Adult Rare Disease Patient Needs to Travel for a Definitive Diagnosis: A Cross-Sectional Examination of the 2018 National Rare Disease Survey in China

Background: To investigate the multidimensional difficulties in accessing a definitive diagnosis of adult rare diseases and the associated impact factors in China. Methods: A total of 1010 adult rare disease patients from the 2018 China Rare Disease Survey were used for analysis. The Structural Equation Models examined the interrelationships among five accessibility indicators and the effects of three sets of impact factors. Results: (1) Accessibility: 72.97% of patients were misdiagnosed; they waited an average of 4.30 years and visited 2.97 hospitals before the definitive diagnosis; 67.13% were diagnosed outside the home city and traveled an average of 562 km. (2) Interrelationships among accessibility indicators: the experience of misdiagnosis significantly increased diagnosis delay and the number of hospitals visited, but had no significant effect on healthcare utilization across cities. (3) Impact factors: the rarity of disease only increased the number of hospitals visited and residence–hospital distance; high-quality healthcare distribution was key in determining accessibility; the older, disabled, poor, and less-educated individuals, and those in Central/West China were disadvantaged. Conclusion: The socioeconomic dimension of difficulties in accessing a definitive diagnosis of rare diseases should be attended, especially the uneven distribution of high-quality healthcare and those disadvantaged patients. More systematic rare disease surveys are needed in the future.

The Cause of Sengon (Paraserianthes falcataria) Damping-off Disease: Survey and Identification in Permanent Nursery, IPB University

Damping-off generally occurs in seedlings that have just germinated. This disease can cause severe damage, decay, and seedling death. The research was aimed to compute disease incidence and severity of damping-off and to identify the causal of damping-off disease in Paraserianthes falcataria. The survey was examined by using scoring with a 10% sampling intensity. The identification of morphological characteristics was examined macroscopically and microscopically. The result showed that the disease incidence most frequently occurred on 5-month-old seedlings in an open area of 75,00%, and the lowest was on 3-month-old seedlings in an open area of 13,40%. The immense severity of the damping-off attack occurred on 3-month-old seedlings in the greenhouse area of 37,78%, and the lowest occurred on 3-month-old seedlings in an open area of 2,84%. The causal of damping-off disease on P. falcataria in Permanent Nursery of IPB University was Rhizoctonia sp. Pathogenicity test toward P. falcataria seed showed 100% of disease infection. Rhizoctonia sp. caused seed decay hence inhibited seed germination.Keywords: damping-off, Rhizoctonia sp., sengon (Paraserianthes falcataria)