GENETIC DIVERSITY AND STRAIN IMPROVEMENT IN Pleurotus ostreatus

2000

Documenting the history of an organization is beneficial as a retrospective and as an aid in making wise decisions for the future. Dr. E.S. Luttrell penned, apparently under some duress, the first comprehensive historical account of the units of plant pathology at The University of Georgia. Although Dr. Luttrell did not view his account as a true history, it likely provides the most insightful perspective on how we got on the road we are today. That document was published in 1985 as Special Publication 35 of The Georgia Agricultural Experiment Stations and entitled "An Account of the Origins and Development of Plant Pathology in The University of Georgia and the Several Experiment Stations." That Special Publication is no longer in press, but the contents are reproduced herein. Drs. Richard Hanlin, Donald Sumner and Jerry Walker were kind in taking the time to provide an account of changes that occurred at the Athens, Tifton and Griffin campuses, respectively, between 1985 and 1999. Thus, this document provides a collective perspective on the history of our current status as a Department of Plant Pathology in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at The University of Georgia. My role in this process has been one of collector, not editor. As an addendum to Special Publication 35, I would like to note the contributions of Ms. Gwendolyn Burton Caldwell. Ms. Caldwell, at the time Ms. Burton, was a member of the faculty in the early 1940s and worked with Dr. Julian H. Miller. Ms. Caldwell was co-author on several significant papers on the life histories and morphology of ascomycetes that led to the foundation of using the developmental morphology and the internal structure of the ascocarp as a basis for classifying these fungi. These papers included:

Plant Disease, 2009

Australasian Plant Pathology, 2005

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microorganisms, and due to its high degree of specificity, molecular techniques can distinguish closely related organisms at different taxonomic levels. Here, we review the most important tools for molecular detection of plant pathogenic fungi, their applicability, and their implementation in horticultural and agricultural practices.

Journal of General Plant Pathology

Journal of Plant Pathology, 2016

Medicinal and aromatic plants include a broad array of wild and cultivated plants which contain many biologically-active compounds, known as phytochemicals, that are of great interest for their ability to promote human and animal health. The present review provides a literature overview of phytoplasma diseases affecting medicinal and aromatic plants, with an emphasis on phytoplasma taxa associated. An overview of studies that examined the effect of phytoplasma infections on phytochemical content and other secondary metabolites of affected plants is also included. Phytoplasma diseases of medicinal and aromatic plants occur worldwide; however, the majority of reports are from Europe and southeastern Asian countries. These diseases affect plant species belonging to over 70 families, mostly to Apiaceae and Asteraceae. They differ considerably in geographic distribution and size of the various taxonomic groups and subgroups of the associated phytoplasmas. Subgroup 16SrI-B phytoplasmas ar...

Pathogen infection in plants induces complex responses ranging from gene expression to metabolic processes in infected plants. In spite of many studies on biotic stress-related changes in host plants, little is known about the metabolic responses of the host plants to P. cichorii infection based on image-based analysis. To investigate metabolic alterations in tomato plants according to disease severity, we inoculated plants with different cell densities of P. cichorii using dipping and syringe infiltration methods. High-dose inocula (≥106 cfu/ml) induced evident necrotic lesions within one day that corresponded to bacterial growth in the infected tissues. Among the chlorophyll fluorescence parameters analyzed, changes in ΦPSII and NPQ preceded the appearance of visible symptoms, but Fv/Fm was altered well after symptom development. VIS/NIR and chlorophyll fluorescence hyperspectral images detected changes before symptom appearance at low-density inoculation. The results of this study indicate that the P. cichorii infection severity can be detected by chlorophyll fluorescence assay and hyperspectral images prior to the onset of visible symptoms, indicating the feasibility of early detection of diseases. However, to detect disease development by hyperspectral imaging, more detailed protocols and analyses are necessary. Taken together, change in chlorophyll fluorescence is a good parameter for early detection of P. cichorii infection in tomato plants. In addition, image-based visualization of infection severity before visual damage appearance will contribute to effective management of plant diseases.

Australasian Plant Pathology, 2011

Pulse crops in Australian broad-acre agriculture are a relatively small but essential component of presentday farming systems. Winter pulses, particularly the five accounted for in this review, dominate pulse area and production in this country. The Australian pulse industry has experienced devastating epidemics of diseases such as lupin anthracnose and chickpea ascochyta blight. In addition, many other diseases have appeared regionally. Research on various aspects was directed towards managing these diseases in individual regions, states and nationally. This review addresses advances in pathology related to bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens in lupins, chickpeas, field peas, lentils and faba beans. In addition to fundamental epidemiological and disease control studies, this paper includes molecular studies and quantitative epidemiology leading to disease modelling and disease forecasting. It also highlights the efforts undertaken recently by pulse pathologists in Australia to strengthen collaborative research nation-wide.