Life Sciences Commons^™

Potential Biological Control Agents For Nassella Neesiana (Poaceae) Invading Australian Native Grasslands, F. E. Anderson, M. L. Díaz, D. A. Mclaren

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

The introduction and proliferation of exotic stipoid grasses over the past 100 years seriously threatens agricultural productivity and the integrity of Australia's indigenous flora and fauna, particularly its grasslands (McLaren et al., 1998). The full effect on biodiversity by the spread of these grasses is unknown but likely to be major (Hocking, 1998). Conventional control techniques have not stopped the invasion adequately, so it is a priority to find control options to achieve an effective management strategy. A biological control project against Nassella trichotoma and N. neesiana was initiated in 1999 in Argentina. We report on the most recent …

Comparing Fungal Communities In Tsuga Heterophylla Seedling Roots Across Nurse Log Decay Stages And The Forest Floor, Ellie Olpin, Reisha Foertsch

Summer Research

Nurse logs are fallen, decaying trees that have been shown to facilitate the survival, establishment, and growth of tree seedlings, therefore making vital contributions to forest regeneration. Plant-fungi interactions may play a role in influencing seedling survival across nurse log decay and the forest floor. We sought to examine how fungal communities in seedling roots change between nurse logs and forest floor as well as across nurse log decay stages. To study this, we collected western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) seedlings (5-10 cm) from nurse logs of each decay stage and the forest floor at three field sites on the Olympic …

Nitrogen Availability In Dune Systems And Its Effect On Root Fungal Endophyte Communities., Haley E. Sage

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

As global change persists, changes in resource availability can influence plant-microbe interactions. To understand how resource availability can influence these interactions and species diversity, I focused this research on how varying nitrogen (N) levels affect root endophyte communities in the plant species Ammophila breviligulata, an ecosystem engineer in the dune system. I analyzed the relationship between nitrogen addition and microbial community composition across 60 plots treated with three nitrogen addition levels (control, low, and high) in a long-term experimental field site in the Lake Michigan dunes. I identified Ammophila breviligulata's root endophyte community after creating a culture collection and …

Isolation Of Foliar Fungi From Roseau Cane (Phragmites Australis) In Coastal Louisiana, David M. Galo Espinal

LSU Master's Theses

Roseau cane (Phragmites australis) is a wild plant with an extensive root system that is useful in areas vulnerable to soil erosion. In Louisiana, this plant plays an important role protecting the coastal infrastructure of the lower Mississippi River delta (MRD). Currently, P. australis growing in the MRD is being affected by a die-off, which has been associated with several biotic and abiotic factors.

Plant pathogenic fungi is a biotic factor that negatively affect plant growth. Therefore, foliar fungi were isolated from plants growing in one die-off affected area (MRD) and two non-affected areas (Pecan Island and Manchac) …

Spore Dispersal Of Slime Molds And Higher Fungi Via Animal Vectors, Courtney Trimble

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Myxomycetes and dictyostelids are Amoebozoans that are cosmopolitan inhabitants of a variety of habitats, particularly forest environments. Both groups reproduce using spores which are primarily dispersed via wind in myxomycetes but this characteristic poses a problem for dictyostelids. The spores of dictyostelids are incased in a mucilaginous matrix that makes wind ineffective except in exceptional cases. It has been suggested that animals such as birds may play an important yet understudied role in the dispersal of these organisms. This study investigated how animals could potentially serve as vectors for spore dispersal of dictyostelids and myxomycetes with some limited data obtained …

Lichens And Biofilms: Common Collective Growth Imparts Similar Developmental Strategies, Erin C. Carr, Steven D. Harris, Joshua R. Herr, Wayne Riekhof

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Lichens are traditionally defined as a symbiotic relationship between fungi and algae and/or cyanobacteria. This union forms a unique structure called the thallus, which attaches to surfaces such as rocks and tree bark. Recent reports challenge the view that lichens are comprised of one fungus and one photobiont, and instead suggest that they are a consortium of microbes. Much of lichen biology remains unknown as most of our knowledge of lichens is limited to morphological characteristics with little to no functional analysis of lichen genes. However, lichens and biofilms share many similar physiological traits which when compared may assist in …

Response Of Sorghum Enhanced In Monolignol Biosynthesis To Stalk Rot Pathogens, Deanna L. Funnell-Harris, Scott E. Sattler, Patrick M. O'Neill, Tammy Gries, Hannah M. Tetreault, Thomas E. Clemente

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

To increase phenylpropanoid constituents and energy content in the versatile C4 grass sorghum (Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench), sorghum genes for protiens related to monolignol biosynthesis were overexpressed: SbMyb60 (transcriptional activator), SbPAL (phenylalanine ammonia ase), Bmr2 (4-coumarate: CoA ligase), and SbC3H (coumaroyl shikimate 3-hydroxylase). Overexpression lines were evaluted for responses to stalk pahtogens under greenhouse and field conditions. Greenhouse-grown plants were inoculated with Fusarium thapsinum (Fusarium stalk rot) and Macrophomia phaseolina (charocal rot), which cause yield-reducing diseases. F. thapsinum-inoculated overexpression plants had mean lesion lengths not significantly different than wild-type, except for significantly smaller lesions on two of three SbMyb60 and …

Reactive Oxygen Species Metabolism And Plant-Fungal Interactions, Lauren M. Segal, Richard A. Wilson

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Fungal interactions with plants can involve specific morphogenetic developments to access host cells, the suppression of plant defenses, and the establishment of a feeding lifestyle that nourishes the colonizer often—but not always—at the expense of the host. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolism is central to the infection process, and the stage-specific production and/or neutralization of ROS is critical to the success of the colonization process. ROS metabolism during infection is dynamic—sometimes seemingly contradictory—and involves endogenous and exogenous sources. Yet, intriguingly, molecular decision-making involved in the spatio-temporal control of ROS metabolism is largely unknown. When also considering that ROS demands are …

Hydraulic Mechanisms Of Fungal-Induced Dieback In A Keystone Chaparral Species During Unprecedented Drought In California, Natalie M. Aguirre, Marissa E. Ochoa, Helen I. Holmlund, Frank E. Ewers, Stephen D. Davis

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

Between 2012-2016, southern California experienced unprecedented drought that caused dieback in Malosma laurina, a keystone species of chaparral shrub communities. Dieback was especially severe in coastal exposures of the Santa Monica Mountains, leading to whole plant mortality exceeding 50% at some sites. We hypothesized that the endophytic fungus causing the dieback, Botryosphaeria dothidea, was successful in invading the xylem tissue of M. laurina because of protracted water stress, carbon starvation, or a combination of the two. We tested these possibilities in a controlled pot experiment by comparing three treatments, each inoculated with the fungus: (1) irrigated controls (2) …

Recommendations Of Generic Names In Diaporthales Competing For Protection Or Use, Amy Y. Rossman, Gerard C. Adams, Paul F. Cannon, Lisa A. Castlebury, Pedro W. Crous, Marieka Gryzenhout, Walter M. Jaklitsch, Luis C. Mejia, Dmitar Stoykov, Dhanushka Udayanga, Hermann Voglmayr, Donald M. Walker

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

In advancing to one name for fungi, this paper treats generic names competing for use in the order Diaporthales (Ascomycota, Sordariomycetes) and makes a recommendation for the use or protection of one generic name among synonymous names that may be either sexually or asexually typified. A table is presented that summarizes these recommendations. Among the genera most commonly encountered in this order, Cytospora is recommended over Valsa and Diaporthe over Phomopsis. New combinations are introduced for the oldest epithet of important species in the recommended genus. These include Amphiporthe tiliae, Coryneum lanciforme, Cytospora brevispora, C. ceratosperma, C. …

Plant Ecophysiology Of Mycorrhizal Fungi, Gregory Keith Bartley Jr.

Gregory Keith Bartley Jr.

No abstract provided.

The Future Of Southern Agriculture, Gregory Keith Bartley Jr.

Gregory Keith Bartley Jr.

The increasing demand for the supply of energy in the south heavily impacts the allocation of water for use in agriculture. With such a high percentage of the south's freshwater going towards energy production, little can make its way into food, feed, and fiber. Because the need for this exponential energy production in the south is currently greater than its agricultural importance, southern farmers are left to endure heavy irrigation restrictions. The solution to this problem can manifest itself in one of two ways. Southern states can either implement strategies that can reduce plant water consumption without reducing yield, or …

Microbial Content Of Abattoir Wastewater And Its Contaminated Soil In Lagos, Nigeria, A. O. Adesemoye, B. O. Opere, S. C. O. Makinde

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Microbial content of wastewater in two abattoirs and the impact on microbial population of receiving soil was studied in Agege and Ojo Local Government Areas in Lagos State, Nigeria. Wastewater samples were collected from each of the abattoirs over three months period and examined for microbial content. Soil samples contaminated with the wastewaters were also collected and analyzed for microbial content as compared to soil without wastewater contamination in the neighborhood (control). Some physico-chemical parameters of the samples such as total dissolved solid, chemical oxygen demand, etc., were examined. The wastewater samples from both abattoirs were highly contaminated; Agege abattoir …

Crop Updates 2003 - Cereals, Graham Crosbie, Robert Loughman, Collin Wellings, Greg Shea, Simon Mckirdy, Neil C. Turner, Brenda Shackley, Wal Anderson, Darshan Sharma, Mohammad Amjad, Steve Penny Jr, Melanie Kupsch, Anne Smith, Veronika Reck, Pam Burgess, Glenda Smith, Elizabeth Tierney, Peter Burges, Moin Salam, Megan Collins, Art Diggle, Blakely Paynter, Roslyn Jetter, Kevin Young, Jocelyn Ball, Natasha Littlewood, Lucy Anderton, Irene Waters, Tim Setter, Jeff Russell, Reg Lance, Chengdao Li, Sue Broughton, Michael Jones, Grace Zawko, Keith Gregg, Stephen Loss, Frank Ripper, Ryan Guthrie, Daniel Bell, Patrick Gethin, Narelle Hill, Laurence Caeslake, Vivien Vanstone, Sean Kelly, Helen Hunter, Christopher R. Newman

Crop Updates

This session covers twenty one papers from different authors:

PLENARY

1. Recognising and responding to new market opportunities in the grains industry, Graham Crosbie, Manager, Grain Products Research, Crop Breeding, Plant Industries, Department of Agriculture

2. Stripe rust – where to now for the WA wheat industry? Robert Loughman¹, Colin Wellings² and Greg Shea¹¹Department of Agriculture, ²University of Sydney Plant Breeding Institute, Cobbitty (on secondment from NSW Agriculture)

3. Benefits of a Grains Biosecurity Plan, Dr Simon McKirdy, Plant Health Australia, Mr Greg Shea, Department of Agriculture

4. Can we improve …

Minnesota Species Of Aleurodiscus, Harvey E. Stork

Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Some Higher Fungi In The Vicinity Of Winona, Sister M. Sylvia

Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science

No abstract provided.