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Extraction And Characterization Of Antifungal Compounds Produced By Lowbush Blueberry Plants In Response To Monilinia Vaccinii-Corymbosi Infection, Sophia Suriano Apr 2023

Extraction And Characterization Of Antifungal Compounds Produced By Lowbush Blueberry Plants In Response To Monilinia Vaccinii-Corymbosi Infection, Sophia Suriano

Honors College

Maine’s wild blueberries are a vital economic and ecological resource for growers, consumers, and researchers alike. Fungal diseases like Monilinia vacciniicorymbosi (MVC) reduce the yield of berries from infected plants by killing plant tissues and damaging fruit. Understanding what blueberry plants use to defend themselves against fungal pathogens can give a greater insight into increasing plant immunity as a whole. This project aims to better understand the wild blueberry antifungal defense response. I extracted bioactive compounds from the healthy leaves of low severity and high severity disease-affected plants and separated the molecules with thin layer chromatography (TLC). Aspergillus sp. acted …


Comparative Analysis Of Rhizosphere Microbiomes Of Southern Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium Corymbosum L.), Darrowâs Blueberry (V. Darrowii Camp), And Rabbiteye Blueberry (V. Virgatum Aiton), Jiangang Li, Olga V. Mavrodi, Jinfeng Hou, Chazden Blackmon, Ebrahiem M. Babiker, Dmitri V. Mavrodi Mar 2020

Comparative Analysis Of Rhizosphere Microbiomes Of Southern Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium Corymbosum L.), Darrowâs Blueberry (V. Darrowii Camp), And Rabbiteye Blueberry (V. Virgatum Aiton), Jiangang Li, Olga V. Mavrodi, Jinfeng Hou, Chazden Blackmon, Ebrahiem M. Babiker, Dmitri V. Mavrodi

Faculty Publications

Plants are inhabited by millions of parasitic, commensal, and mutualistic microorganisms that coexist in complex ecological communities, and profoundly affect the plant’s productivity, health, and capacity to cope with environmental stress. Therefore, a better understanding of the rhizosphere microbiome may open a yet untapped avenue for the rational exploitation of beneficial plant–microbe interactions in modern agriculture. Blueberries encompass several wild and cultivated species of shrubs of the genus Vaccinium that are native to North America. They are grown commercially for the production of fruits, which are considered a health food due to the rich content of minerals, trace elements, and …


Relationships Between Blueberry Flower Age, Pollination, And Conidial Infection By Monilinia Vaccinii-Corymbosi, Jeffery S. Lehman, Henry K. Ngugi, Harald Scherm Oct 2002

Relationships Between Blueberry Flower Age, Pollination, And Conidial Infection By Monilinia Vaccinii-Corymbosi, Jeffery S. Lehman, Henry K. Ngugi, Harald Scherm

Biology and Earth Science Faculty Scholarship

Monilinia vaccinii-corymbosi infects open blueberry flowers via the gynoecial pathway, leading to mummification of the developing fruit. To determine the effect of flower age on infection, stigmata were inoculated with conidia of M. vaccinii-corymbosi between 0 and 5 days after anthesis, fungal growth rates through the stylar canal were measured in detached flowers in the laboratory, and fruit disease incidence was determined in plants grown in the greenhouse. Hyphal growth rates were greatest in flowers inoculated on the day of anthesis, declined linearly with increasing flower age at inoculation (r = 0.921; P < 0.0001; n = 12), and were unaffected by the presence or absence of pollen applied at the time of inoculation. In greenhouse-grown plants, the percentage of infected fruit decreased exponentially with increasing flower age at inoculation (R = 0.878; P = 0.0057; n = 10), with disease incidence ranging from 76.4% for flowers inoculated on the day of anthesis to 15.5% for those inoculated 4 days later. Fruit disease incidence in the greenhouse was linearly correlated with hyphal growth rates in detached flowers (r = 0.985; P < 0.0001; n = 9), justifying the use of detached flowers when investigating gynoecial infection by M. vaccinii-corymbosi. In separate experiments, the effects of timing and sequence of pollination and inoculation on hyphal growth rates through the stylar canal and on disease incidence were investigated. Application of pollen to detached flowers 1 or 2 days before inoculation reduced hyphal growth rates by between 14.0 and 42.9% compared with flowers that received pollen and conidia simultaneously. Similarly, reductions in fruit disease incidence by between 9.5 and 18.3% were observed on greenhouse-grown plants for pollination-to-inoculation intervals ranging from 1 to 4 days. These results document that newly opened flowers are most susceptible to infection by M. vaccinii-corymbosi and that fruit disease incidence is reduced if pollination occurs at least 1 day before inoculation. Strategies that lead to early pollination of newly opened flowers may be useful for managing mummy berry disease in the field.


Sp284-D-Planting Blueberries In Home Gardens, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service Sep 1997

Sp284-D-Planting Blueberries In Home Gardens, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Home Garden, Lawn, and Landscape

Blueberries are a popular small-fruited plant in Tennessee. The fruit can be eaten fresh or used in jams, preserves, pies, with ice cream and in blueberry muffins and pancakes. Once established, plants are not difficult to maintain. Establishment, however, can be laborious. Plants can be easily grown in existing home landscapes and provide fruit while adding beauty to the landscape. Birds are usually the most troublesome pest after plants begin to fruit. After planting, the first good fruit yield will generally occur after three to five years. However, the length of time to fruiting will vary with the age of …


Virus Disease Of Small Fruits, R. H. Converse Jan 1987

Virus Disease Of Small Fruits, R. H. Converse

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

This illustrated handbook was compiled by international authorities on virus and viruslike diseases of small fruits. Crops covered are in the plant genera Fragaria (strawberry), Vaccinium (blueberry and cranberry), Ribes (currant and gooseberry), and Rubus (blackberry and raspberry). The history, geographic distribution, importance, symptoms, transmission, cause, detection, and control of virus and viruslike diseases attacking these crops are discussed.