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Population Structure And Phenotypic Variation Of Sclerotinia Sclerotiorum From Dry Bean (Phaseolus Vulgaris) In The United States, Zhian N. Kamvar, Bimal Sajeewa Amaradasa, Rachana Jhala, Serena Mccoy, James R. Steadman, Sydney Everhart

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

The ascomycete pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a necrotrophic pathogen on over 400 known host plants, and is the causal agent of white mold on dry bean. Currently, there are no known cultivars of dry bean with complete resistance to white mold. For more than 20 years, bean breeders have been using white mold screening nurseries (wmn) with natural populations of S. sclerotiorum to screen new cultivars for resistance. It is thus important to know if the genetic diversity in populations of S. sclerotiorum within these nurseries (a) reflect the genetic diversity of the populations in the surrounding region and (b) …

Pemanfaatan Empat Isolat Trichoderma Sp. Untuk Mengendalikan Penyakit Akar Gada Pada Tanaman Caisin, Melinda Yudha, L. Soesanto, E. Mugiastuti

Jurnal Kultivasi

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh aplikasi empat isolat Trichoderma sp. dalam mengendalikan penyakit akar gada serta pengaruhnya terhadap pertumbuhan dan hasil tanaman caisin. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan di lahan percobaan Fakultas Pertanian, Universitas Jenderal Soedirman, mulai Mei 2016 sampai bulan Juni 2016. Penelitian ini menggunakan Rancangan Acak Kelompok (RAK), yang terdiri atas 7 perlakuan dan 4 ulangan. Perlakuan terdiri atas, kontrol diinokulasikan P. brassicae, kontrol tidak diinokulasikan P. brassicae, Trichoderma sp. isolat jahe, Trichoderma sp. isolat bawang, Trichoderma sp. isolat pisang, Trichoderma sp. isolat nenas, dan fungisida berbahan aktif Azoksistrobin dan Difenokonazol. Variabel yang diamati adalah masa inkubasi, intensitas penyakit …

Vascular Flora Of The Rocky Fork Tract, Tennessee, Usa, And Its Use In Conservation And Management, Foster Levy, Elaine S. Walker

ETSU Faculty Works

A flora of the 3800 ha Rocky Fork Tract in northeast Tennessee produced 749 species of which 19 were on the Tennessee Rare Plant List and 34 were on the Cherokee National Forest Species Viability List with 87 county records from Greene County and 217 from Unicoi County. Rare species were particularly numerous in the Cyperaceae and Orchidaceae. The tract serves as a refuge for several regionally uncommon species by supporting either large populations or metapopulations of these species. Exotic species comprised 15% of the flora and were most common in the Fabaceae and Poaceae. The most unique habitat was …

Dissecting Salt Tolerance In Soybean By Profiling Differential Physiological Responses Under Salt Stress, Jade Amber Newsome

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Saline soils are common worldwide and limit the yield potential of many crops. Plants respond in a variety of ways to the stress imposed by saline soils. Plants under salt stress must first sense their surroundings and transmit a signal alerting the rest of the plant to the saline conditions. Salt tolerance in soybeans is typically defined by exclusion of chloride ions from foliar tissues. Though differences in ion uptake among soybean genotypes is well documented, the key mechanisms employed by tolerant cultivars to cope with salt stress on the whole-plant level are still largely unknown. Objectives of the current …

The Etiology, Virulence, And Phylogenetics Of The Celery Anthracnose Pathogen, Colletotrichum Fioriniae (= C. Acutatum Sensu Lato), Jason Alexander Pavel

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An anthracnose disease of celery, caused by Colletotrichum acutatum sensu lato, has been reported in the U.S. A phylogenetic analysis was conducted on a collection of isolates from celery and non-celery hosts to evaluate their taxonomic position within Colletotrichum acutatum sensu lato. Both celery and non-celery isolates were evaluated for pathogenicity on celery and for vegetative compatibility. Culture filtrates from celery and non-celery isolates were evaluated for their ability to reproduce the unusual leaf curl type symptoms. A total of 18 celery isolates were evaluated for their taxonomic placement based on analysis of the glutamine synthetase intron sequence. All isolates …

Heterodimers As The Structural Unit Of The T=1 Capsid Of The Fungal Double-Stranded Rna Rosellinia Necatrix Quadrivirus 1, Daniel Luque, Carlos P. Mata, Fernando González-Camacho, José M. González, Josué Gómez-Blanco, Carlos Alfonso, Germán Rivas, Wendy M. Havens, Satoko Kanematsu, Nobuhiro Suzuki, Said A. Ghabrial, Benes L. Trus, José R Castón

Plant Pathology Faculty Publications

Most double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) viruses are transcribed and replicated in a specialized icosahedral capsid with a T=1 lattice consisting of 60 asymmetric capsid protein (CP) dimers. These capsids help to organize the viral genome and replicative complex(es). They also act as molecular sieves that isolate the virus genome from host defense mechanisms and allow the passage of nucleotides and viral transcripts. Rosellinia necatrix quadrivirus 1 (RnQV1), the type species of the family Quadriviridae, is a dsRNA fungal virus with a multipartite genome consisting of four monocistronic segments (segments 1 to 4). dsRNA-2 and dsRNA-4 encode two CPs (P2 and …

The Coat Protein And Nia Protease Of Two Potyviridae Family Members Independently Confer Superinfection Exclusion, Satyanarayana Tatineni, Roy French

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Superinfection exclusion (SIE) is an antagonistic virus-virus interaction whereby initial infection by one virus prevents subsequent infection by closely related viruses. Although SIE has been described in diverse viruses infecting plants, humans, and animals, its mechanisms, including involvement of specific viral determinants, are just beginning to be elucidated. In this study, SIE determinants encoded by two economically important wheat viruses, Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV; genus Tritimovirus, family Potyviridae) and Triticum mosaic virus (TriMV; genus Poacevirus, family Potyviridae), were identified in gain-of-function experiments that used heterologous viruses to express individual virus-encoded proteins in wheat. Wheat plants infected …

Climate Change And The Integrity Of Science, Peter H. Gleick, James L. Van Etten, Members Of The U.S. National Academy Of Sciences

James Van Etten Publications

We are deeply disturbed by the recent escalation of political assaults on scientists in general and on climate scientists in particular. All citizens should understand some basic scientific facts. There is always some uncertainty associated with scientific conclusions; science never absolutely proves anything. When someone says that society should wait until scientists are absolutely certain before taking any action, it is the same as saying society should never take action. For a problem as potentially catastrophic as climate change, taking no action poses a dangerous risk for our planet.

Scientific conclusions derive from an understanding of basic laws supported by …

Predators Catalyze An Increase In Chloroviruses By Foraging On The Symbiotic Hosts Of Zoochlorellae, John Delong, Zeina Al-Ameeli, Garry A. Duncan, James L. Van Etten, David D. Dunigan Ph. D.

James Van Etten Publications

Virus population growth depends on contacts between viruses and their hosts. It is often unclear how sufficient contacts are made between viruses and their specific hosts to generate spikes in viral abundance. Here, we show that copepods, acting as predators, can bring aquatic viruses and their algal hosts into contact. Specifically, predation of the protist Paramecium bursaria by copepods resulted in a >100-fold increase in the number of chloroviruses in 1 d. Copepod predation can be seen as an ecological “catalyst” by increasing contacts between chloroviruses and their hosts, zoochlorellae (endosymbiotic algae that live within paramecia), thereby facilitating viral population …

Two Complete Mitochondrial Genomes From Praticolella Mexicana Perez, 2011 (Polygyridae) And Gene Order Evolution In Helicoidea (Mollusca, Gastropoda), Russell L. Minton, Marco A. Martinez Cruz, Mark L. Farman, Kathryn E. Perez

Plant Pathology Faculty Publications

Helicoidea is a diverse group of land snails with a global distribution. While much is known regarding the relationships of helicoid taxa, comparatively little is known about the evolution of the mitochondrial genome in the superfamily. We sequenced two complete mitochondrial genomes from Praticolella mexicana Perez, 2011 representing the first such data from the helicoid family Polygyridae, and used them in an evolutionary analysis of mitogenomic gene order. We found the mitochondrial genome of P. mexicana to be 14,008 bp in size, possessing the typical 37 metazoan genes. Multiple alternate stop codons are used, as are incomplete stop codons. Mitogenome …

Enrichment Of Phosphatidylethanolamine In Viral Replication Compartments Via Co-Opting The Endosomal Rab5 Small Gtpase By A Positive-Strand Rna Virus, Kai Xu, Peter D. Nagy

Plant Pathology Faculty Publications

Positive-strand RNA viruses build extensive membranous replication compartments to support replication and protect the virus from antiviral responses by the host. These viruses require host factors and various lipids to form viral replication complexes (VRCs). The VRCs built by Tomato bushy stunt virus (TBSV) are enriched with phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) through a previously unknown pathway. To unravel the mechanism of PE enrichment within the TBSV replication compartment, in this paper, the authors demonstrate that TBSV co-opts the guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-bound active form of the endosomal Rab5 small GTPase via direct interaction with the viral replication protein. Deletion of Rab5 orthologs in …

Orm Expression Alters Sphingolipid Homeostasis And Differentially Affects Ceramide Synthase Activity, Athen N. Kimberlin, Gongshe Han, Kyle D. Luttgeharm, Ming Chen, Rebecca E. Cahoon, Julie M. Stone, Jennifer E. Markham, Teresa M. Dunn, Edgar B. Cahoon

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

Sphingolipid synthesis is tightly regulated in eukaryotes. This regulation in plants ensures sufficient sphingolipids to support growth while limiting the accumulation of sphingolipid metabolites that induce programmed cell death. Serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT) catalyzes the first step in sphingolipid biosynthesis and is considered the primary sphingolipid homeostatic regulatory point. In this report, Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) putative SPT regulatory proteins, orosomucoidlike proteins AtORM1 and AtORM2, were found to interact physically with Arabidopsis SPT and to suppress SPT activity when coexpressed with Arabidopsis SPT subunits long-chain base1 (LCB1) and LCB2 and the small subunit of SPT in a yeast ( …

Corn Yield Loss Estimates Due To Diseases In The United States And Ontario, Canada From 2012 To 2015, Daren S. Mueller, Kiersten A. Wise, Adam J. Sisson, Tom W. Allen, Gary C. Bergstrom, D. Bruce Bosley, Carl A. Bradley, Kirk D. Broders, Emmanuel Byamukama, Martin I. Chilvers, Alyssa Collins, Travis R. Faske, Andrew J. Friskop, Ron W. Heiniger, Clayton A. Hollier, David C. Hooker, Tom Isakeit, Tamra A. Jackson-Ziems, Douglas J. Jardine, Heather M. Kelly, Kasia Kinzer, Steve R. Koenning, Dean K. Malvick, Marcia Mcmullen, Ron F. Meyer, Pierce A. Paul, Alison E. Robertson, Gregory W. Roth, Damon L. Smith, Connie A. Tande, Albert U. Tenuta, Paul Vincelli, Fred Warner

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Annual decreases in corn yield caused by diseases were estimated by surveying members of the Corn Disease Working Group in 22 corn-producing states in the United States and in Ontario, Canada, from 2012 through 2015. Estimated loss from each disease varied greatly by state and year. In general, foliar diseases such as northern corn leaf blight, gray leaf spot, and Goss’s wilt commonly caused the largest estimated yield loss in the northern United States and Ontario during nondrought years. Fusarium stalk rot and plant-parasitic nematodes caused the most estimated loss in the southern-most United States. The estimated mean economic loss …

Deidamia Inscriptum (Lettered Sphinx Moth) Caterpillars Feeding On Oxydendrum Arboreum (Sourwood) And Their Predation By Black Bears In Northeast Tennessee, Foster Levy, David L. Wagner, Elaine S. Walker

ETSU Faculty Works

An outbreak of Deidamia inscriptum (Lettered Sphinx Moth) caterpillars was noted in northeast Tennessee where Oxydendrum arboreum (Sourwood) trees were defoliated. Nearly all published literature and online resources list only plants in the grape family (Vitaceae) as larval food plants. Food-plant preference trials using fresh leaves of 3 woody plant species showed that Deidamiacaterpillars from this region had a preference for Sourwood over Parthenocissus quinquefolia(Virginia Creeper), and rejected Acer rubrum (Red Maple), a non-host species. Ursus americanus(Black Bear) were feeding on the caterpillars as evidenced by bent and broken Sourwood saplings bearing claw marks and by abundant …

Mapping Quantitative Trait Loci For Resistance To Goss’S Bacterial Wilt And Leaf Blight In North American Maize By Joint Linkage Analysis, Amritpal Singh, Aaron P. Andersen, Tamra A. Jackson-Ziems, Aaron J. Lorenz

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Goss’s wilt and leaf blight is a bacterial disease of maize (Zea mays L.) caused by the Gram-positive bacterium Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. nebraskensis. Goss’s wilt has reemerged as an important disease in the western United States and is spreading to other areas. Although the reasons for this reemergence are not completely known, it is important to understand the genetic basis of resistance to Goss’s wilt. The objective of this study was to map the quantitative trait loci (QTL) underlying resistance to Goss’s wilt. To achieve this objective, joint linkage and linkage mapping in 3 of the 25 nested …

Pengaruh Aplikasi Pelapisan Benih Terhadap Viabilitas Benih Terdeteriorasi Serta Pertumbuhan Tanaman Kedelai, Sumadi, P. Suryatmana, Denny Sobardini

Jurnal Kultivasi

Kualitas benih akan mempengaruhi dinamika pertumbuhan tanaman. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengkaji respons benih terdeteriorasi terhadap aplikasi berbagai pelapis benih, baik berupa insektisida maupun pelapis hayati berupa suspensi mikroorganisma yang dicerminkan dengan peningkatan laju tumbuh tanaman. Penelitian merupakan percobaan petak terbagi dua faktor, yaitu tingkat deteriorasi (D) yang terdiri dari benih berkualitas baik (DB = 84 %) dan benih terdeteriorasi (DB = 75 %). Pelapis benih yang digunakan terdiri dari Thiametoxam, Rhizobium sp, Azotobakter sp, campuran Azotobakter sp + Rhizobium sp, dan Trichoderma sp. Hasil Percobaan menunjukkan bahwa tidak ada pengaruh interaksi antara tingkat deteriorasi benih dengan jenis pelapis …

Bacterial Leaf Streak Of Corn Confirmed In Nebraska, Other Corn Belt States August 26, 2016, Tamra Jackson-Ziems, Kevin A. Korus, Tony Adesemoye, Julie Van Meter

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Bacterial leaf streak disease of corn, caused by Xanthomonas vasicola pv. vasculorum, has now been confirmed in Nebraska, as well as in Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, and Kansas. The disease had not been previously identified in the U.S., but had been reported on corn in South Africa. Surveys are currently underway across the Corn Belt to identify the disease distribution. Initial observations and survey results suggest that it may be widely distributed throughout the Corn Belt. Unusual symptoms were first reported on corn samples received by the University of Nebraska Plant and Pest Diagnostic Clinic. Over the last two years, the …

Transcriptome Response Of Cassava Leaves Under Natural Shade, Zehong Ding, Yang Zhang, Yi Xiao, Fangfang Liu, Minghui Wang, Xinguang Zhu, Peng Liu, Qi Sun, Wenquan Wang, Ming Peng, Tom Brutnell, Pinghua Li

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

Cassava is an important staple crop in tropical and sub-tropical areas. As a common farming practice, cassava is usually cultivated intercropping with other crops and subjected to various degrees of shading, which causes reduced productivity. Herein, a comparative transcriptomic analysis was performed on a series of developmental cassava leaves under both full sunlight and natural shade conditions. Gene expression profiles of these two conditions exhibited similar developmental transitions, e.g. genes related to cell wall and basic cellular metabolism were highly expressed in immature leaves, genes involved in lipid metabolism and tetrapyrrole synthesis were highly expressed during the transition stages, and …

Validation Of Reference Genes For Robust Qrt-Pcr Gene Expression Analysis In The Rice Blast Fungus Magnaporthe Oryzae, Sarena Che Omar, Michael A. Bentley, Giulia Morieri, Gail M. Preston, Sarah J. Gurr, Richard Wilson (Editor)

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

The rice blast fungus causes significant annual harvest losses. It also serves as a genetically- tractable model to study fungal ingress. Whilst pathogenicity determinants have been unmasked and changes in global gene expression described, we know little about Magnaporthe oryzae cell wall remodelling. Our interests, in wall remodelling genes expressed during infection, vegetative growth and under exogenous wall stress, demand robust choice of reference genes for quantitative Real Time-PCR (qRT-PCR) data normalisation. We describe the expression stability of nine candidate reference genes profiled by qRT-PCR with cDNAs derived during asexual germling development, from sexual stage perithecia and from vegetative mycelium …

Diversity And Virulence Of Soybean Cyst Nematode (Heterodera Glycines Ichinohe) In Nebraska, Kyle C. Broderick

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Soybean cyst nematode (SCN, Heterodera glycines Ichinohe) is one of the most economically important soybean pathogens in the United States. Best management practices are the use of resistant cultivars and crop rotation. Though there are several genetic sources of SCN resistance, most of the SCN-resistant cultivars are derived from a single resistance source (PI 88788). Other states have reported an increase in virulence to PI 88788 due to prolonged use of this resistance. In this thesis, two studies were conducted to characterize the diversity and virulent phenotypes of SCN populations in Nebraska.

The first study assessed the virulent phenotypes of …

Morphological And Molecular Identification And Characterization Of Dry Bean Fungal Root Rot Pathogens In Zambia, Chikoti Mukuma

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Dry bean is among the most important food legume crops for direct human consumption in Latin America and Africa. Recently, root and crown rot (RCR) has emerged as an important production constraint. Root and crown rot often involve fungal complexes. Thus, the straw, detached leaf, cup and stem tests were compared on their ability to detect the most common pathogens reported to be associated with RCR: Fusarium solani, Fusarium oxysporum, Pythium ultimum, Rhizoctonia solani and Macrophomina phaseolina.Significant differences (P

Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), conventional Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), and classical fungal culturing methods were compared in identification of …

Chromosome-End Knockoff Strategy To Reshape Alkaloid Profiles Of A Fungal Endophyte, Simona Florea, Timothy D. Phillips, Daniel G. Panaccione, Mark L. Farman, Christopher L. Schardl

Plant Pathology Faculty Publications

Molecular genetic techniques to precisely eliminate genes in asexual filamentous fungi require the introduction of a marker gene into the target genome. We developed a novel strategy to eliminate genes or gene clusters located in subterminal regions of chromosomes, and then eliminate the marker gene and vector backbone used in the transformation procedure. Because many toxin gene clusters are subterminal, this method is particularly suited to generating nontoxic fungal strains. We tested this technique on Epichloë coenophiala, a seed-transmissible symbiotic fungus (endophyte) of the important forage grass, tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum). The endophyte is necessary for maximal …

Identification Of Diverse Mycoviruses Through Metatranscriptomics Characterization Of The Viromes Of Five Major Fungal Plant Pathogens, Shin-Yi Lee Marzano, Berlin D. Nelson, Olutoyosi Ajayi-Oyetunde, Carl A. Bradley, Teresa J. Hughes, Glen L. Hartman, Darin M. Eastburn, Leslie L. Domier

Plant Pathology Faculty Publications

Mycoviruses can have a marked effect on natural fungal communities and influence plant health and productivity. However, a comprehensive picture of mycoviral diversity is still lacking. To characterize the viromes of five widely dispersed plant-pathogenic fungi, Colletotrichum truncatum, Macrophomina phaseolina, Diaporthe longicolla, Rhizoctonia solani, and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, a high-throughput sequencing-based metatranscriptomic approach was used to detect viral sequences. Total RNA and double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) from mycelia and RNA from samples enriched for virus particles were sequenced. Sequence data were assembled de novo, and contigs with predicted amino acid sequence similarities to viruses in the …

Over-Summering Ecology Of The Wheat Curl Mite (Aceria Tosichella Keifer), Anthony J. Mcmechan

Department of Entomology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The wheat-mite-virus complex is a consistent and significant threat to winter wheat production in the western Great Plains. This complex consists of three viruses (Wheat streak mosaic virus, Triticum mosaic virus, and Wheat mosaic virus that are transmitted by the wheat curl mite (Aceria tosichella Keifer). Yield impacts from this complex are typically associated with the presence of volunteer wheat that emerges prior to harvest as a result of hail occurring during the heading stages of wheat in early summer. Historical literature on pre-harvest germination has been primarily focused on accelerating breeding programs; however, critical gaps in knowledge exist on …

Characterization Of Sip470, A Family 1 Lipid Transfer Protein And Its Role In Plant Stress Signaling, Timothy Ndagi Audam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

SIP470, a putative tobacco lipid transfer protein, was identified in a yeast two-hybrid screen to interact with SABP2. SABP2 is a critical role in SA-mediated signaling in tobacco and other plants. In vitro studies using purified recombinant SIP470 confirmed that it is a lipid binding protein. In an attempt to determine its role in mediating stress responses, Arabidopsis T-DNA insertion knockout lines lacking SIP470 homolog were used for the analysis. These mutant plants were defective in basal resistance against microbial pathogens. Expression of defense gene PR-1 was also delayed in these mutant plants. Interestingly, these mutant plants were not defective …

Genetic Basis Of Biosynthesis And Cytotoxic Activity Of Medicago Truncatula Triterpene Saponins, Brynn Kathleen Lawrence

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Saponins are a large family of specialized metabolites produced in many plants. They can have negative effects on a number of plant pests and are thought to play a role in plant defense. With current and possible future uses in industry and agriculture, saponins have also been shown to be hypocholesterolemic, hypoglycemic, immunostimulatory, antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and cytotoxic. In spite of their usefulness, our understanding of the genetic basis for saponin biosynthesis is still incomplete. We generated recombinant populations with parents from genetically distinct accessions of Medicago truncatula, with either high or low accumulation and varying profiles of saponins. Primers for …

Comparative Genomics, Transcriptomics, And Physiology Distinguish Symbiotic From Free-Living Chlorella Strains, Cristian F. Quispe, Olivia Sonderman, Maya Khasin, Wayne R. Riekhof, James L. Van Etten, Kenneth Nickerson

Kenneth Nickerson Papers

Most animal–microbe symbiotic interactions must be advantageous to the host and provide nutritional benefits to the endosymbiont. When the host provides nutrients, it can gain the capacity to control the interaction, promote self-growth, and increase its fitness. Chlorella-like green algae engage in symbiotic relationships with certain protozoans, a partnership that significantly impacts the physiology of both organisms. Consequently, it is often challenging to grow axenic Chlorella cultures after isolation from the host because they are nutrient fastidious and often susceptible to virus infection. We hypothesize that the establishment of a symbiotic relationship resulted in natural selection for nutritional and metabolic …

Rna-Seq Based Analysis Of Population Structure Within The Maize Inbred B73, Zhikai Liang, James C. Schnable

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

Recent reports have shown than many identically named genetic lines used in research around the world actually contain large amounts of uncharacterized genetic variation as a result of cross contamination of stocks, unintentional crossing, residual heterozygosity within original stocks, or de novo mutation. 27 public, large scale, RNA-seq datasets from 20 independent research groups around the world were used to assess variation within the maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) inbred B73, a four decade old variety which served as the reference genotype for the original maize genome sequencing project and is widely used in genetic, genomic, and phenotypic research. Several …

Antiviral Rna Silencing Suppression Activity Of Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus Nss Protein, Tania Ocampo Ocampo, Sergio M. Gabriel Peralta, Nicole Bacheller, Stella Uiterwaal, Aaron Knapp, Alanna Hennen, Daniel Leobardo Ochoa-Martínez, Hernan Garcia-Ruiz

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

In addition to regulating gene expression, RNA silencing is an essential antiviral defense system in plants. Triggered by double-stranded RNA, silencing results in degradation or translational repression of target transcripts. Viruses are inducers and targets of RNA silencing. To condition susceptibility, most plant viruses encode silencing suppressors that interfere with this process, such as the Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) NSs protein. The mechanism by which NSs suppresses RNA silencing and its role in viral infection and movement remain to be determined. We cloned NSs from the Hawaii isolate of TSWV and using two independent assays show for the first …

Description Of Mesocriconema Ericaceum N. Sp. (Nematoda: Criconematidae) And Notes On Other Nematode Species Discovered In An Ericaceous Heath Bald Community In Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Usa, Thomas O. Powers, Peter Mullin, Rebecca Higgins, Timothy Harris, Kirsten S. Powers

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

A new species of Mesocriconema and a unique assemblage of plant-parasitic nematodes was discovered in a heath bald atop Brushy Mountain in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Mesocriconema ericaceum n. sp., a species with males, superficially resembles M. xenoplax. DNA barcoding with the mitochondrial COI gene provided evidence of the new species as a distinct lineage. SEM revealed significant variability in arrangement of labial submedian lobes, plates, and anterior and posterior annuli. Three other nematodes in the family Criconematidae were characterized from the heath bald. Ogma seymouri, when analyzed by statistical parsimony, established connections with isolates from north-eastern Atlantic …