Entomology Commons^™

Brassica Mulches And Meal Control Fungal Wheat Pathogens In Vitro And Take-All Disease In Soil, Thomas Samuel Breeden

Masters Theses

Soilborne pathogens have an economic impact on crops throughout the world. Many survive saprophytically and therefore are difficult to control. Soil fumigation and seed treatments are sometimes effective. However, they are economically impractical for many crops. Crop rotation/alternative crops are often a practical, economical, and successful means of controlling soilborne pathogens. Recent studies have revealed that Brassica spp. Inhibit a wide array of plant pathogens. Decomposing species of Brassica release glucosinolates, which are converted to isothiocyanates (ITC) by the enzyme myrosinase. The ITC compounds inhibit microorganisms. The present study had three objectives. The first was to evaluate the effect of …

Determining Dollar Spot Fungicide Resistance In Tennessee And Northern Mississippi, Pamela Rene Baird

Masters Theses

Dollar spot, caused by Sclerotinia homeocarpa, is the most common turf disease golf course that superintendents deal with on a regular basis. Chemical control has been the front line of defense against this disease; however, most of the fungicides that formerly controlled dollar spot have lost efficacy over time due to development of resistance by the fungus. The objectives of part one of this thesis were to determine the following: (i) if resistance to the fungicides thiophanate-methyl, iprodione, and propiconazole exists in Tennessee, and northern Mississippi isolates of field-collected S. homeocarpa; (ii) if isolates collected in Michigan differ …

Bioactive Natural Products From Monarda For Control Of Tomato Disease, Sharon Elizabeth Greene

Masters Theses

Environmentally-friendly methods to control plant disease are needed in order to reach the goal of sustainability in agriculture. Because diseases caused by soil-borne organisms significantly reduce crop yields, identifying environmentally friendly methods for control of these diseases is imperative. The purpose of the research described in this thesis was to determine the impact of bioactive natural products on disease control in tomato production. The specific objectives were: 1) to determine the effect of adding herbage (dried and ground leaves and flowers) of three Monarda cultivars to greenhouse growth media on seedling losses caused by Rhizoctonia solani, and 2) to …

Survey Of Mosquitoes In High And Low Incidence Areas For West Nile Virus In Shelby County, Tennessee With Assessment Of Parity Rates, Host Selection, And Seasonal Abundance, David M. Sanders

Masters Theses

West Nile Virus (WNV) was reported as present in ShelbyCountyin 2001 with 44 blue jays testing positive for WNV. The first reported human WNV case had an onset date of 27 July 2002. There were 40 human cases in 2002, six of which were fatal. The 2002 human cases were clustered within the I-240 beltway, the older residential area of greater ShelbyCounty. Adult mosquito collections were made from the first week in June through the first week in November for 2003 and 2004. A representative site was selected from both the high and low human WNV incidence area of ShelbyCounty, …

Aflp Markers Identify Cornus Florida Cultivars, Naomi Rene Smith

Masters Theses

Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers were generated from genomic DNA of seventeen flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) cultivars and lines and four duplicate samples. Fragments were analyzed on a Beckman Coulter CEQ™ 8000 Genetic Analysis System. AFLP fingerprints were converted to binary data (1=fragment present, 0=fragment absent) by the CEQ "AFLP analysis" program. A bin width of one nucleotide and a y-threshold of 15,000 relative dye signal were used to eliminate background noise and other weak peaks. All binary data were manually checked and verified and corrections were made when necessary. Cultivar specific markers were identified for all …

In Vitro Regeneration Of Cladrastis Kentukea (American Yellowwood) And Cornus Kousa (Kousa Dogwood), Denita Hadziabdic

Masters Theses

Selection of superior individuals followed by clonal vegetative propagation is a very important strategy for plant improvement. Cloning via tissue culture can produce a population of an identical genotype without limits. A single specimen tree of Cladrastis kentukea and five different Cornus kousa cultivars were selected for tissue culture studies. These trees exhibited superior performance in horticultural trials, including disease resistance and drought tolerance, which are highly important to the green industry.

Axillary buds from a single C. kentukea tree were initially cultured on either Woody Plant Medium (WPM) or Murashige and Skoog (MS) containing 0, 1, 2, or 4 …