scholarly journals Influence of Pure Mulches on Suppressing Phytophthora Root Rot Pathogens

2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 221-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.C. Percival

Mulching as a means of controlling Phytophthora root rot pathogens has become recognised as a potential cultural management system within the arboricultural, nursery and landscape industry. The influence of a pure mulch, i.e., mulch derived solely from one tree species, on reducing Phytophthora root rot severity has received little study. The purpose of the conducted research was to determine if a range of pure mulches derived from European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), common hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna JACQ), silver birch (Betula pendula ROTH.), common cherry (Prunus avium L.), evergreen oak (Quercus ilex L.) and English oak (Q. robur L.) could reduce the development and impact of pathogen severity caused by Phytophthora cactorum and P. criticola on containerised horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum). Irrespective of Phytophthora pathogen, leaf area, leaf, shoot, root and total plant dry weight following application of a pure mulch was higher than non-mulched controls. Likewise, leaf chlorophyll content, chlorophyll fluorescence Fv/Fm ratios, photosynthetic rates and root carbohydrate concentration as measures of tree vitality were higher in pure mulched compared to non-mulched control trees. Application of a pure mulch had a significant influence on Phytophthora root rot lesion severity. In the case of P. cactorum root rot lesion severity was reduced by 39–63%. In the case of P. criticola root rot lesion severity was reduced by 33–61%. In conclusion, pure mulches offer positive benefits for those involved in the care and maintenance of urban trees as well as nursery, forestry, orchard and horticultural crop production where Phytophthora pathogens are problematic.

2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 200-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.C. Percival ◽  
Evangelos Gklavakis ◽  
Kelly Noviss

Abstract Mulching as a means of reducing soil moisture stress, suppressing weed growth and improving soil fertility is widely recognised throughout the arboricultural, nursery and landscape industry. The influence of a pure mulch, i.e. mulch derived solely from one tree species, has received little study. The purpose of this research was to evaluate pure mulches derived from European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), common hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna JACQ), silver birch (Betula pendula ROTH.), common cherry (Prunus avium L.), evergreen oak (Quercus ilex L.) and English oak (Q. robur L.) on survival and growth of two commonly planted urban trees (European beech, common hawthorn) following containerization and two economically important fruit trees (apple (Malus cv. Gala), pear (Pyrus communis ‘Concorde’) following field transplanting. In the case of beech, a highly sensitive transplant species, survival rates were increased from 10 to 70% following containerization. In the case of hawthorn, a transplant tolerant species, no difference in survival rates between mulched and non-mulched controls were recorded, however, marked differences in growth between, and compared to, non-mulched control trees existed. In field planted apple and pear trees crown volume and fruit yield could be increased by 53 and 100%, respectively, by application of an appropriate pure mulch. Allelochemical testing of water soluble extracts of each pure mulch indicated positive benefits in terms of enhanced seed germination and seedling relative growth rates with one exception — a mulch derived from beech where no positive benefits were found. In conclusion, pure mulches offer positive benefits for those involved in the care and maintenance of urban trees as well as nursery, forestry, orchard and horticultural crop production. Pure mulches require no capital investment and only small adjustments to standard management aftercare procedures.


Plant Disease ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 102 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Lebreton ◽  
C. Labbé ◽  
M. De Ronne ◽  
A. G. Xue ◽  
G. Marchand ◽  
...  

Phytophthora root rot, caused by Phytophthora sojae, is one of the most damaging diseases of soybean and the introgression of Rps (Resistance to P. sojae) genes into elite soybean lines is arguably the best way to manage this disease. Current bioassays to phenotype the gene-for-gene relationship are hampered with respect to reproducibility and long-term stability of isolates, and do not accurately predict horizontal resistance individually. The aim of our study was to investigate a new way of phenotyping P. sojae isolates and vertical and horizontal resistance in soybean that relies on zoospores inoculated directly into a hydroponic system. Inoculation of P. sojae isolates against a set of eight differentials accurately and reproducibly identified pathotypes over a period of two years. When applied to test vertical resistance of soybean lines with known and unknown Rps genes, the bioassay relied on plant dry weight to correctly identify all genes. In addition, simultaneous inoculations of three P. sojae isolates, collectively carrying eight major virulence factors against 64 soybean lines with known and unknown levels of horizontal resistance, separated the plants into five distinct groups of root rot, allowing the discrimination of lines with various degrees of partial resistance. Based on those results, this bioassay offers several advantages in facilitating efforts in breeding soybean for P. sojae resistance and in identifying virulence factors in P. sojae.


Plant Disease ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 103 (8) ◽  
pp. 2024-2032 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodger J. Belisle ◽  
Wei Hao ◽  
Brandon McKee ◽  
Mary Lu Arpaia ◽  
Patricia Manosalva ◽  
...  

Phytophthora root rot (PRR), caused by Phytophthora cinnamomi, is the most destructive disease of avocado worldwide. In the United States, mefenoxam and phosphonate products are currently the only registered fungicides for managing avocado PRR. Four new Oomycota-specific and two registered fungicides, all with different modes of action, were evaluated. Seventy-one isolates of P. cinnamomi from avocado in California, most of them collected between 2009 to 2017, were tested for their in vitro sensitivity to the six fungicides. Baseline sensitivity ranges and mean values (in parentheses) of effective concentrations to inhibit mycelial growth by 50% (EC50) for the new fungicides ethaboxam, fluopicolide, mandipropamid, and oxathiapiprolin were 0.017 to 0.069 μg/ml (0.035), 0.046 to 0.330 μg/ml (0.133), 0.003 to 0.011 μg/ml (0.005), and 0.0002 to 0.0007 μg/ml (0.0004), respectively. In comparison, the EC50 value range (mean) was 0.023 to 0.138 μg/ml (0.061) for mefenoxam and 12.9 to 361.2 μg/ml (81.5) for potassium phosphite. Greenhouse soil inoculation trials with 8-month-old Zutano seedlings and 10-month-old Dusa and PS.54 clonal rootstocks were conducted to assess the efficacy of these fungicides for managing PRR. Mefenoxam and potassium phosphite were effective treatments; however, oxathiapiprolin, fluopicolide, and mandipropamid were more effective. Ethaboxam was effective in reducing PRR on the rootstocks evaluated. Oxathiapiprolin reduced PRR incidence and pathogen population size in the soil by >90%, and plant shoot growth and root dry weight were significantly increased compared with the control; thus, oxathiapiprolin was one of the best treatments overall. The high activity and performance of these new fungicides supports their registrations on avocado for use in rotation and mixture programs, including with previously registered compounds, to reduce the risk of development and spread of resistance in pathogen populations.


2011 ◽  
Vol 101 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brantlee Spakes Richter ◽  
Kelly Ivors ◽  
Wei Shi ◽  
D. M. Benson

Wood-based mulches are used in avocado production and are being tested on Fraser fir for reduction of Phytophthora root rot, caused by Phytophthora cinnamomi. Research with avocado has suggested a role of microbial cellulase enzymes in pathogen suppression through effects on the cellulosic cell walls of Phytophthora. This work was conducted to determine whether cellulase activity could account for disease suppression in mulch systems. A standard curve was developed to correlate cellulase activity in mulches with concentrations of a cellulase product. Based on this curve, cellulase activity in mulch samples was equivalent to a cellulase enzyme concentration of 25 U ml–1 or greater of product. Sustained exposure of P. cinnamomi to cellulase at 10 to 50 U ml–1 significantly reduced sporangia production, but biomass was only reduced with concentrations over 100 U ml–1. In a lupine bioassay, cellulase was applied to infested soil at 100 or 1,000 U ml–1 with three timings. Cellulase activity diminished by 47% between 1 and 15 days after application. Cellulase applied at 100 U ml–1 2 weeks before planting yielded activity of 20.08 μmol glucose equivalents per gram of soil water (GE g–1 aq) at planting, a level equivalent to mulch samples. Cellulase activity at planting ranged from 3.35 to 48.67 μmol GE g–1 aq, but no treatment significantly affected disease progress. Based on in vitro assays, cellulase activity in mulch was sufficient to impair sporangia production of P. cinnamomi, but not always sufficient to impact vegetative biomass.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leilah Krounbi ◽  
Akio Enders ◽  
John Gaunt ◽  
Margaret Ball ◽  
Johannes Lehmann

AbstractThe conversion of dairy waste with high moisture contents to dry fertilizers may reduce environmental degradation while lowering crop production costs. We converted the solid portion of screw-pressed dairy manure into a sorbent for volatile ammonia (NH3) in the liquid fraction using pyrolysis and pre-treatment with carbon dioxide (CO2). The extractable N in manure biochar exposed to NH3 following CO2 pre-treatment reached 3.36 g N kg−1, 1260-fold greater extractable N than in untreated manure biochar. Ammonia exposure was 142-times more effective in increasing extractable N than immersing manure biochar in the liquid fraction containing dissolved ammonium. Radish and tomato grown in horticultural media with manure biochar treated with CO2 + NH3 promoted up to 35% greater plant growth (dry weight) and 36–83% greater N uptake compared to manure biochar alone. Uptake of N was similar between plants grown with wood biochar exposed to CO2 + NH3, compared to N-equivalent treatments. The available N in dairy waste in New York (NY) state, if pyrolyzed and treated with NH3 + CO2, is equivalent to 11,732–42,232 Mg N year−1, valued at 6–21.5 million USD year−1. Separated dairy manure treated with CO2 + NH3 can offset 23–82% of N fertilizer needs of NY State, while stabilizing both the solid and liquid fraction of manure for reduced environmental pollution.


Crop Science ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 492-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhongnan Zhang ◽  
Jianjun Hao ◽  
Jiazheng Yuan ◽  
Qijian Song ◽  
David L. Hyten ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 259-264
Author(s):  
MZ Hossain ◽  
Sushmita Dey ◽  
MS Islam

Groundwater arsenic contamination has become a threat to the crop production potential in the soils of vast areas of Bangladesh. Situation is grave in some districts of the country, particularly the southern part. A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of arsenic treated irrigation water (0, 1, 2, 5 and 10 mgL-1), where a total of ten (10) irrigations were provided thus the treatments received 0, 10, 20, 50, and 100 mg arsenic (As) pot-1. Effects of applied levels of arsenic on Amaranthus gangeticus (Lal shak) were evaluated in terms of the growth, yield, major nutrients’ content, and their translocation in the plant. As treatments significantly reduced (p≤0.05) the dry weight of shoot and root by 19.31% and 44.03% respectively. Both total and available concentrations of nitrogen (N), potassium (K) and sulfur (S) were significantly (p≤ 0.05) suppressed by the As treatments, while only higher three doses significantly (p≤ 0.05) affected both levels of concentrations of phosphorus (P), calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg). Translocation coefficients for soil to root for P, K, S, and Mg were significantly reduced (p≤ 0.05), while translocation coefficients for root to shoot were significantly increased (p≤ 0.05) for K and S by 5 and 10 mgL-1 of arsenic treatments.Bangladesh J. Sci. Ind. Res.53(4), 259-264, 2018


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdulaha-Al Baquy ◽  
Jiu-Yu Li ◽  
Chen-Yang Xu ◽  
Khalid Mehmood ◽  
Ren-Kou Xu

Abstract. Soil acidity has become a serious constraint in dry land crop production systems of acidic Ultisols in tropical and subtropical regions of southern China, where winter wheat and canola are cultivated as important rotational crops. Regardless of other common existing concerns in acidic Ultisols of southern China, it needs to be investigated whether soil acidity has any effect on wheat and canola growth. There is little information on the determination of critical soil pH as well as aluminium (Al) concentration for wheat and canola crops. The objective of this study was to determine the critical soil pH and exchangeable aluminium concentration (AlKCl) for wheat and canola production. Two pot cultures with two Ultisols from Hunan and Anhui were conducted for wheat and canola crops in a controlled growth chamber, with a completely randomized design. A soil pH gradient ranging from 3.7 (Hunan) and 3.97 (Anhui) to 6.5, with three replications, was used as a treatment. Aluminium sulfate (Al2(SO4)3) and hydrated lime (Ca(OH)2) were used to obtain the target soil pH levels. Plant height, shoot dry weight, root dry weight, and chlorophyll content (SPAD value) of wheat and canola were adversely affected by soil acidity in both locations. The critical soil pH and AlKCl of the Ultisol from Hunan for wheat were 5.29 and 0.56 cmol kg−1, respectively. At Anhui, the threshold soil pH and AlKCl for wheat were 4.66 and 2.36 cmol kg−1, respectively. On the other hand, the critical soil pH for canola was 5.65 and 4.87 for the Ultisols from Hunan and Anhui, respectively. The critical soil exchangeable Al for canola cannot be determined from the experiment of this study. The results suggested that the critical soil pH and AlKCl varied between different locations for the same variety of crop, due to the different soil types and their other soil chemical properties. The critical soil pH for canola was higher than that for wheat for both Ultisols, thus canola was more sensitive to soil acidity. Therefore, we recommend that liming should be undertaken to increase soil pH if it falls below these critical soil pH levels for wheat and canola production.


2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy K. Osterbauer ◽  
Melissa Lujan ◽  
Gary McAninch ◽  
S. Lane ◽  
Aaron Trippe

In Oregon, the U.S. Nursery Certification (USNCP), Grower Assisted Inspection (GAIP), and Shipping Point Inspection (SPI) programs are used to certify nursery plants as pest free. To compare the programs' effectiveness for mitigating pest risk, potted plants grown within two USNCP, two GAIP, and two SPI nurseries were surveyed for Phytophthora root rot (Phytophthora spp.), Phytophthora foliar blight (Phytophthora spp.), bittercress (Cardamine spp.), snails and slugs (Class Gastropoda), and root weevils (Otiorhynchus spp.). A total of 1,635 plots were surveyed in the nurseries, with one or more pests detected in 1,003 plots. Based on the total percentage of plots found infested with a pest, significantly fewer were detected in the GAIP nurseries (55%) than in the USNCP nurseries (68%). However, bittercress incidence was significantly higher in GAIP nurseries (21%), while snails and slugs incidence was significantly higher in USNCP nurseries (49%), and Phytophthora root rot incidence was significantly higher in SPI nurseries (31%). Also, the plant families grown by the nurseries had a significant impact on pest incidence for two of the target pests, Phytophthora root rot and root weevils. While the GAIP seemed the best at mitigating pest incidence overall, none of the certification programs was consistently the most effective against all five target pests.


Plant Disease ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 95 (10) ◽  
pp. 1316-1316 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. Díaz Arias ◽  
G. P. Munkvold ◽  
L. F. Leandro

Fusarium spp. are widespread soilborne pathogens that cause important soybean diseases such as damping-off, root rot, Fusarium wilt, and sudden death syndrome. At least 12 species of Fusarium, including F. proliferatum, have been associated with soybean roots, but their relative aggressiveness as root rot pathogens is not known and pathogenicity has not been established for all reported species (2). In collaboration with 12 Iowa State University extension specialists, soybean roots were arbitrarily sampled from three fields in each of 98 Iowa counties from 2007 to 2009. Ten plants were collected from each field at V2-V3 and R3-R4 growth stages (2). Typical symptoms of Fusarium root rot (2) were observed. Symptomatic and asymptomatic root pieces were superficially sterilized in 0.5% NaOCl for 2 min, rinsed three times in sterile distilled water, and placed onto a Fusarium selective medium. Fusarium colonies were transferred to carnation leaf agar (CLA) and potato dextrose agar and later identified to species based on cultural and morphological characteristics. Of 1,230 Fusarium isolates identified, 50 were recognized as F. proliferatum based on morphological characteristics (3). F. proliferatum isolates produced abundant, aerial, white mycelium and a violet-to-dark purple pigmentation characteristic of Fusarium section Liseola. On CLA, microconidia were abundant, single celled, oval, and in chains on monophialides and polyphialides (3). Species identity was confirmed for two isolates by sequencing of the elongation factor (EF1-α) gene using the ef1 and ef2 primers (1). Identities of the resulting sequences (~680 bp) were confirmed by BLAST analysis and the FUSARIUM-ID database. Analysis resulted in a 99% match for five accessions of F. proliferatum (e.g., FD01389 and FD01858). To complete Koch's postulates, four F. proliferatum isolates were tested for pathogenicity on soybean in a greenhouse. Soybean seeds of cv. AG2306 were planted in cones (150 ml) in autoclaved soil infested with each isolate; Fusarium inoculum was applied by mixing an infested cornmeal/sand mix with soil prior to planting (4). Noninoculated control plants were grown in autoclaved soil amended with a sterile cornmeal/sand mix. Soil temperature was maintained at 18 ± 1°C by placing cones in water baths. The experiment was a completely randomized design with five replicates (single plant in a cone) per isolate and was repeated three times. Root rot severity (visually scored on a percentage scale), shoot dry weight, and root dry weight were assessed at the V3 soybean growth stage. All F. proliferatum isolates tested were pathogenic. Plants inoculated with these isolates were significantly different from the control plants in root rot severity (P = 0.001) and shoot (P = 0.023) and root (P = 0.013) dry weight. Infected plants showed dark brown lesions in the root system as well as decay of the entire taproot. F. proliferatum was reisolated from symptomatic root tissue of infected plants but not from similar tissues of control plants. To our knowledge, this is the first report of F. proliferatum causing root rot on soybean in the United States. References: (1) D. M. Geiser et al. Eur. J. Plant Pathol. 110:473, 2004. (2) G. L. Hartman et al. Compendium of Soybean Diseases. 4th ed. The American Phytopathologic Society, St. Paul, MN, 1999. (3) J. F. Leslie and B. A. Summerell. The Fusarium Laboratory Manual. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, UK, 2006. (4) G. P. Munkvold and J. K. O'Mara. Plant Dis. 86:143, 2002.


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