Plant Pathology Commons^™

Natural Selection For Disease Resistance In Hybrid Poplars Targets Stomatal Patterning Traits And Regulatory Genes., Karl Christian Fetter

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The evolution of disease resistance in plants occurs within a framework of interacting

phenotypes, balancing natural selection for life-history traits along a continuum of

fast-growing and poorly defended, or slow-growing and well-defended lifestyles. Plant

populations connected by gene flow are physiologically limited to evolving along a

single axis of the spectrum of the growth-defense trade-off, and strong local selection

can purge phenotypic variance from a population or species, making it difficult to

detect variation linked to the trade-off. Hybridization between two species that have

evolved different growth-defense trade-off optima can reveal trade-offs hidden in either

species by introducing phenotypic and …

Ecoenzymes As Indicators Of Compost To Suppress Rhizoctonia Solani, Deborah A. Neher, Lynn Fang, Thomas R. Weicht

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Reports of disease suppression by compost are inconsistent likely because there are no established standards for feedstock material, maturity age for application, and application rate. The overall goal of the study was to evaluate a suite of biological indicators for their ability to predict disease suppression. Indicators included both commercial available methods for compost stability (Solvita™, respiration) and metrics of soil ecology not yet adopted by the compost industry (e.g., ecoenzymes, nematode community index). Damping-off by Rhizoctonia solani on radish was chosen as a model system given its global importance, competitiveness affected by carbon quality, and lack of disease management …

Biological Indicators Of Compost-Mediated Disease Suppression Against The Soilborne Plant Pathogen Rhizoctonia Solani, Lynn Fang

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Compost can suppress soilborne plant pathogens that cause significant damage on globally important food crops. However, reports of plant pathogen suppression are inconsistent likely because there are no established standards for feedstock material, application rate, and maturity age upon application. Excellent results can be achieved in greenhouse trials, but field applications are much less reliable. Disease suppression occurs through the activity of biocontrol organisms (direct antagonism), and general microbial competition. Biocontrol species are hypothesized to colonize the pile during the curing phase, but single species may not be as important as microbial consortia. Substrate composition during maturation may give rise …

The Efficacy And Non-Target Impacts Of An Organic Disease Management System Containing Biostimulants Compared With Two Sulfur-Based Systems On Four Apple Cultivars In Vermont, Ann L. Hazelrigg

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Disease management in organic apple orchards in Vermont is focused on controlling diseases with sulfur fungicides. The objective of this two year study was to evaluate the target and non-target effects of an organic disease management system containing agricultural biostimulants compared to two sulfur-based systems on foliar and fruit diseases, pest and beneficial arthropods, tree growth, yield and fruit quality on four cultivars, `Ginger Gold', `Honeycrisp' and `Liberty' and `Zestar!'. Trees were arranged in a complete randomized design of five three-tree replications in a certified organic orchard. The two sulfur-based systems differed in the number of applications; in the third …

Analysis Of Function Of The Son1-Interacting Protein, Lnk2 In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Prince Kudjoe Zogli

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The Arabidopsis SON1 F-box protein was implicated in regulating a pathogen defense pathway, but its exact function in wild-type plants is unknown. As an F-box protein it was predicted that SON1 would assembles into a SON1-SCF ubiquitin ligase complex that recruits specific plant defense-related proteins for proteolysis. The yeast 2-hybrid assay was used to screen for potential substrates for a putative SON1-SCF ligase, leading to the identification of Arabidopsis LNK2 as a SON1-binding factor.

Comprehensive protein-protein interaction analysis has shown that the binding of SON1 to LNK2 protein is specific, because closely related, full-length Arabidopsis F-box proteins do not interact …

Why I Love Grasshopper Sparrows, Michele Patenaude

UVM Libraries Conference Day

Since 2001, Michele (a library circulation supervisor in her day job) has conducted a summer breeding-bird survey of Grasshopper Sparrows at Camp Johnson in Colchester, VT. Named Grasshopper Sparrows because their breeding call sounds like a grasshopper, this little brown bird is endemic to certain types of scrubby grasslands which are becoming more scarce in the Northeast. The Grasshopper Sparrow is also declining and the species is not on the list of Vermont Endangered Birds. Come to this presentation and learn about the bird, how Michele surveys them, why they are endangered, and why Michele loves these quiet, little brown …