New record of Golovinomyces ambrosiae on Solanum azureum (Solanaceae) in Mexico.

We report the powdery mildew Golovinomyces ambrosiae for the first time on silverleaf nightshade (Solanum azureum), a host plant endemic to northern Sinaloa and southern Sonora, Mexico. No teleomorph was observed, requiring the fungal species to be identified based on morphological characteristics of the anamorph. Phylogenetic analyses of the ITS region and the partial sequence of the β-tubulin gene from four specimens confirmed the identity of the species. To our knowledge, this is the first report of G. ambrosiae on S. azureum in Mexico and worldwide.

Solanum elaeagnifolium (silverleaf nightshade).

S. elaeagnifolium is a deep-rooted summer-growing perennial plant, native to the Americas, but now widely naturalized beyond its native range in extra-tropical regions. It is considered a tenacious weed in many arid to semi-arid places including India, Australia, South Africa, the Pacific Islands, and the USA (Holm et al., 1979; Wagner et al., 1999; Randall, 2012; USDA-ARS, 2014). It is known to be invasive in Cuba (Oviedo-Prieto et al., 2012) and Hawaii (PIER, 2014), a principal weed in India (Holm et al., 1979), and an agricultural weed in Java (Randall, 2012). It has been declared a noxious weed in the U.S. states of Arkansas, California, Idaho, Nevada, and Washington, and an "A" designated weed for quarantine in Oregon and Washington (USDA-NRCS, 2014). The species competes with crops, interferes with livestock, acts as a host for insects and plant diseases, and spreads by forming dense colonies from its extensive root system as well as by propagation of seeds (Boyd et al., 1984; Wagner et al., 1999; EPPO, 2007; PIER, 2014). The species is difficult to control without chemicals (UC Davis Weed Research and Information Center, 2013) and it is essential to keep it out of uncontaminated areas (EPPO, 2007). The species is known to be toxic to cattle, causing damage to intestinal tract and nervous systems and, in severe cases, can cause hallucinations, paralysis, and death (Mas and Lugo-Torres, 2013).

Cross-species transferability of Solanum spp. DNA markers and their application in assessing genetic variation in silverleaf nightshade (Solanum elaeagnifolium) populations from Texas, USA

Silverleaf nightshade (Solanum elaeagnifolium Cav.) is an invasive species that has successfully spread outside its native range to become a noxious weed in 21 states in the United States and 42 countries worldwide. The successful establishment of S. elaeagnifolium outside its native habitat indicates its innate ability to adapt to a multitude of environments. Phenotypic plasticity and/or genetic adaptation have been identified as key mechanisms underlying the adaptive success of invasive species. Whereas phenotypic plasticity allows a species to buffer changes in the environment by altering its phenotypic attributes within the short term, genetic adaptation is responsible for the longer-term adaptability of plants to heterogeneous environments and is dependent on the amount of genetic variation present in the species. In this study, we screened DNA markers that are specific to tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) and Solanum lycopersicoides Dunal for their interspecific transferability to S. elaeagnifolium and determined the applicability of the transferable DNA markers in assessing the extent of genetic variation in populations from Lubbock, Littlefield, and Blackwell, TX. Of the 187 markers screened, 78 successfully amplified targets in S. elaeagnifolium, indicating the evolutionary conservation of marker loci across S. lycopersicum, S. lycopersicoides, and S. elaeagnifolium, despite their genetic divergence millions of years ago. Genotyping of S. elaeagnifolium populations using 50 DNA markers that consistently amplified clear bands in more than 60% of the plants identified nine polymorphic markers with 0.014 to 0.621 polymorphism information content. Genetic diversity analysis by DNA marker profiling established genetic variation among populations and within individuals of different populations. Unweighted paired group method with arithmetic mean analysis grouped the plants into six clusters that are generally defined by selection pressures unique to each collection site. Results of the study indicate the capacity of S. elaeagnifolium for genetic differentiation in response to variable selection pressures within the same geographic region.

CHEMICAL OPTIONS FOR THE CONTROL OF SILVERLEAF NIGHTSHADE (Solanum elaeagnifolium)

ABSTRACT Silverleaf nightshade is a difficult-to-control perennial weed. Field experiments were conducted in northern Greece to evaluate the control of silverleaf nightshade with POST applications of glufosinate (1,500 g a.i. ha-1), glyphosate (3,600 g a.i. ha-1), tembotrione (148.5 g a.i. ha-1), and a mixture of tembotrione plus bentazon (148.5 plus 1,440 g a.i. ha-1) at an early vegetative stage (plant height 10-15 cm) and at the beginning of flowering (plant height 30-50 cm). Glufosinate provided > 95% control of silverleaf nightshade from 7 to 39 days after treatment (DAT), regardless of the vegetative stage at herbicide application. Similarly, glyphosate provided up to 90% control around 39 DAT at either growth stage applied, exhibiting gradually increasing efficacy. Tembotrione alone controlled silverleaf nightshade 85% when applied at the early vegetative stage and 48% when applied at the beginning of flowering. The mixture of tembotrione plus bentazon applied at the beginning of flowering exhibited 74% control at 21 DAT; however, the control was decreased to 41% at 35 DAT. When the mixture was applied at the early vegetative stage, S. elaeagnifolium control was 61% at 23 DAT, which was decreased to 27% at 39 DAT. Glufosinate and glyphosate were found to be reliable options for control of silverleaf nightshade when applied at either weed growth stage; tembotrione could be also another reliable option, however, when applied only at an early vegetative stage. The results have significant implications for developing appropriate management practices for silverleaf nightshade, taking into account chemical options for preventing the evolution of herbicide resistance.