bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
First Report of Diplodia seriata, the Anamorph of “Botryosphaeria” obtusa, Causing Fruit Rot of Olive in Spain
Authors: Moral J. , Luque F. , Trapero A. 
Published: January 2008

In October, 2006, 1,000 olive fruits (Olea europaea) were collected to study latent infections of Colletotrichum spp., causal agent of anthracnose, in an olive orchard in Córdoba Province (southern Spain). The fruits were incubated at 22 to 24°C and 100% relative humidity. Thirteen percent of the fruits showed a black rot that covered part or all of the fruit and pycnidia formed on the fruit surface. The fungus most consistently isolated from affected fruits was identified as Diplodia seriata, the anamorph of “Botryosphaeria” obtusa, by morphological criteria (1). Pathogenicity tests were performed on 50 immature and 50 mature fruits of olive cv. Hojiblanca. The fruits were washed in sterilized water with Tween 20 at 20 μl/liter and surface sterilized in 20% sodium hypochlorite for 2 min. Twenty-five of the immature and 25 mature fruits were wounded with a sterile 0.5-mm-diameter needle, inoculated by immersion in aqueous conidial suspensions (2.2 × 105 conidia ml–1) for 30 min. The same number of immature and mature fruits, wounded and unwounded, were treated only with sterilized Tween 20 water and served as the control. All fruit were incubated at 22 to 24°C and 100% relative humidity. The experiment was repeated twice. Eight days after inoculation, 75% of the mature inoculated fruits showed a general rot with pycnidia developing on the surface of the fruit. After 20 days, the first symptoms of disease were observed on immature olive fruits (2%) and all mature fruits. After 50 days, only 14% of immature inoculated fruits exhibited symptoms of the disease. The fungus caused mummification of mature fruits. D. seriata was reisolated from lesions on all infected fruits. There were no differences in the amount and severity of disease between wounded and unwounded fruits. Control fruits did not display disease symptoms after 50 days. Incidence of olive fruits affected by D. seriata in olive orchards in southern Spain is unknown, although it may be low since it was detected only in 1 of 12 olive orchards sampled for Colletotrichum spp. in 2006. Incidence of fruit rot associated with D. seriata in this orchard was 1.2% of fruits, which also were affected by Colletotrichum. D. seriata has a worldwide distribution and infects numerous fruit trees. In our research, D. seriata is pathogenic on olive fruits but weakly virulent. To our knowledge, this is the first report worldwide of the anamorph of “B.” obtusa causing fruit rot on olives. Reference: (1) A. J. L. Phillips et al. Fungal Divers. 25:141, 2007.
First Report of Potato virus Y in Nicotiana mutabilis in France
Authors: Cardin L. , Moury B. 
Published: January 2008

Nicotiana mutabilis Stehmann & Semir is a recently described perennial plant species from southern Brazil that produces long floral stems with white to deep pink flowers and is used for its ornamental quality. In 2003, leaf mosaic symptoms were observed in all 30 N. mutabilis plants in a nursery in the south of France. Observation of crude sap preparations with the electron microscope revealed numerous flexuous particles, 700 to 730 nm long and approximately 11 nm wide, associated with “pinwheel”-like cytoplasmic inclusions, typical of the family Potyviridae. A range of plant species inoculated with extracts from five of the symptomatic plants showed reactions typical of Potato virus Y (PVY) (2), and the presence of the virus was confirmed by positive reactions in double-antibody sandwich (DAS)-ELISA with polyclonal antibodies raised against PVY. To test if PVY was responsible for the symptoms observed in N. mutabilis, an isolate was multiplied in N. tabacum cv. Xanthi plants after isolation from local lesions on Chenopodium amaranticolor and was then mechanically inoculated to 12 seedlings of N. mutabilis cv. Marshmallow. After 3 weeks, the 12 inoculated plants showed systemic vein clearing symptoms and PVY was detected by DAS-ELISA. Reverse transcription (RT)-PCR tests using PVY-polyvalent primers (5′-GATGGTTGCCTTGGATGATG and 5′-TAAAAGTAGTACAGGAAAAGCCA) covering the coat protein (CP) coding region amplified a single DNA fragment of the expected 900 bp from total RNA extracts from Xanthi plants inoculated with the five isolates. One of these DNA products was directly sequenced (GenBank Accession No. EU252529) and several accepted methods of phylogenetic analysis compared this sequence to 80 available PVY CP coding sequences and showed that the N. mutabilis PVY belonged to the C1 group (1). Similar to the other PVY strains in the C group, the N. mutabilis isolate was able to induce hypersensitive local lesions in leaves of potato genotypes carrying the Nc gene. However, contrary to the other characterized C1 isolates (1), it was unable to infect systemically cv. Yolo Wonder pepper plants. That peculiar behavior makes the N. mutabilis isolate a tool to identify the viral determinants controlling the host range of PVY. References: (1) B. Blanco-Urgoiti et al. J. Gen. Virol. 79:2037, 1998. (2) C. Kerlan. No. 414 in: Descriptions of Plant Viruses. CMI/AAB, Kew, Surrey, UK, 2006.
First Report of Rhizome Blight of Ginger Caused by Binucleate Rhizoctonia AG-R in China
Authors: Yang G. H. , Conner R. L. , Cai H. , Li F. , Chen Y. Y. 
Published: January 2008

In 2004, rhizome blight of ginger (Zingiber officinale (Willd.) Roscoe) (cv. Yunnanxiaojiang) occurred in the Kunming District of China. The surface of ginger rhizome after harvest was crimpled and covered with white hyphae. Initial symptoms on ginger were wilting on the stem and the color of the rhizome turned from white to light brown with no lesion formation. After 2 weeks, the surface of ginger rhizome was covered with white hyphae and a dry rot set in under humid conditions. The yield loss in ginger almost reached 50% because of the disease. An AG-R tester isolate paired with the unknown 37 isolates of Rhizoctonia spp. from the diseased ginger rhizomes caused a C2 reaction that confirmed their identity. Isolates of AG-R (GenBank Accession Nos. DQ885780 and DQ885781) had 100% sequence similarity with 5.8S rDNA-ITS with the AG-R tester isolate (GenBank Accession No. AF354082). To produce infected soil inoculum, 10 isolates were cultured on potato dextrose agar in a 9-cm petri dish for 3 to 4 days and then covered with approximately 20 g of autoclaved soil and kept at 25°C for 3 to 4 days. Seedlings of ginger (cv, Yunanxiaojiang) were planted in natural potting soil at a density of one plant per vinyl pot (8 cm in diameter, 9 cm high) and grown in the greenhouse for 7 days. Each seedling was inoculated with 7 g of infested soil by placing it around the rhizome. Control plants were inoculated with autoclaved soil. The experiments were carried out three times, each time with three replicates in a growth chamber kept at 25 and 16°C with a 16-h light and 8-h dark photoperiod. After 14 days, the disease severity was recorded based on a scale in which – = no symptoms; + = small lesions on seedlings, no blight; ++ = seedling blight; and +++ = plant dead. All of the 10 tested AG-R isolates caused ginger seedling blight. Rhizoctonia spp. was reisolated from these plants, confirming its pathogenicity. To our knowledge, this is the first report of rhizome blight of ginger caused by Rhizoctonia spp. and binucleate Rhizoctonia AG-R in China. References: (1) B. Sneh et al. Page 135 in: Identification of Rhizoctonia Species. The American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN, 1998.
First Report of Pythium splendens Associated with Severe Wilt of Muskmelon (Cucumis melo) in Oman
Authors: Al-Sa'di A. M. , Deadman M. L. , Al-Said F. A. , Khan I. , Al-Azri M. , Drenth A. , Aitken E. A. B. 
Published: January 2008

Muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.) is one of the most important vegetable crops in Oman. In the fall of 2004, sudden wilt was observed in muskmelon grown in a field at Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat. The disease was characterized by rapid collapse of vines and muskmelon plants at the fruit production to maturation stage, associated with brown-to-dark brown rotted primary and secondary roots. The disease resulted in death of more than 85% of muskmelon plants in that field. On potato dextrose agar (PDA), with published methods (1), Pythium spp. were consistently isolated from crowns and roots of plants showing wilt symptoms. Further identification of five isolates of Pythium with sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of the ribosomal DNA (1) using ITS1 and ITS4 primers produced a nucleotide sequence 806 bp long, which was identical among all isolates. Comparison with sequences deposited at the National Center for Biotechnology Information revealed 100% nucleotide similarity to a previously published sequence (Accession No. DQ381808) of isolate P091 of P. splendens from cucumber from Oman, for which identification has also been confirmed by morphological characteristics. The sequence of one isolate of P. splendens (P222) was assigned GenBank Accession No. EF546436 and deposited at CBS under Accession No. CBS121855. In pathogenicity tests conducted in a greenhouse, P. splendens induced damping-off symptoms on 7-day-old muskmelon seedlings and also reproduced the same wilt symptoms observed in the field when 2-month-old muskmelon plants were inoculated with 3-day-old P. splendens grown in PDA. To our knowledge, this is the first report of association of P. splendens with wilt of muskmelon in Oman. Reference: (1) A. M. Al-Sa'di et al. Plant Pathol. 56:140, 2007.
First Report of Pink Seed of Pea Caused by Erwinia rhapontici in North Dakota
Authors: Wise K. A. , Zhao Y. F. , Bradley C. A. 
Published: January 2008

In 2006, a seed lot of dry pea cv. DS Admiral obtained from Bowman County, North Dakota contained seed with bright-to-pale pink discoloration on the seed coat. Five discolored seeds and five seeds with normal appearance were surface disinfected in a 0.5% NaOCl solution for 1 min and rinsed with sterilized distilled water for 1 min. Seeds were placed onto potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated at 22°C. Three days later, the discolored seeds produced pink bacterial colonies and a pink pigment that diffused throughout the PDA. The pink bacterial colonies were tentatively identified as Erwinia rhapontici on the basis of colony and pigment color (2,3). No fungi or bacteria grew from the seed with normal appearance. A pink bacterial colony growing from one of the discolored seeds was streaked onto PDA and a single colony was obtained. A streaked plate incubated at 37°C showed no growth, which distinguishes E. rhapontici from Brenneria rubrifaciens (formerly E. rubrifaciens) (1–3). To confirm the identity, the isolate was sent to the Bacterial Identification and Fatty Acid Analysis Laboratory at the University of Florida, Gainesville. Fatty acid analysis indicated a similarity index of 0.515 for E. rhapontici. For an additional confirmation of identity, the 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) gene was amplified from the E. rhapontici isolate with universal primers fD1 and rP1 (4). The PCR product was cloned into pGEM-T easy vector (Promega, Madison, WI) and sequenced with primers SP6 and T7 at the Keck Biotechnology Center at the University of Illinois, Urbana. The resulting nucleotide sequence was compared with 16S rDNA sequences deposited in the ribosomal database ( http://rdp.cme.msu.edu/seqmatch/seqmatch_intro.jsp ) and showed highest identity to sequences of E. rhapontici or E. persicinus strains. To confirm pathogenicity, the basal ends of five pods on each of six pea plants (cv. Carneval) were syringe injected with 0.1 ml of suspension containing the obtained E. rhapontici isolate in the greenhouse by the methods as previously described (2). As a control, five pods on each of two plants were injected with 0.1 ml of sterile distilled water. Twenty-eight of the 51 seeds obtained from the bacteria-inoculated pods had pink seed symptoms, while seeds from the control pods appeared normal. Isolations from symptomatic and asymptomatic seed were performed as described above, and E. rhapontici was obtained from symptomatic seed. To our knowledge, this is the first report of pink seed of pea caused by E. rhapontici in North Dakota. The first report of this disease on pea in the United States was from Montana (3). References: (1) L. Hauben et al. Syst. Appl. Microbiol. 21:384, 1998. (2) H. C. Huang et al. Can. J. Plant Pathol. 12:445, 1990. (3) B. K. Schroeder et al. Plant Dis. 86:188, 2002. (4) W. G. Weisburg et al. J. Bacteriol. 173:697, 1991.
New Infestation of Branched Broomrape, Orobanche ramosa (Orobanchaceae), on Black Medic, (Medicago lupulina) (Fabaceae), in Virginia
Authors: Musselman L. J. , Bolin J. F. 
Published: January 2008

Orobanche ramosa L. is arguably the most insidious of the major broomrapes, achlorophyllous root parasites of various row crops (4). It has a broad host range and is the most widely spread of any agronomically important broomrape. In the United States, California, Kentucky, and Texas have persistent populations. The California and Texas populations are carefully monitored. Isolated and ephemeral occurrences were reported from New Jersey and a New York greenhouse (1). In May 2006, remnants of capsules were found by a botany student in an urban area of Norfolk, VA. We visited the site during May 2007 and found a flowering population of approximately 100 plants parasitizing Medicago lupulina L. On the basis of size, color, and shape of the corolla and capsule and the branching pattern, the species was determined to be O. ramosa, part of a complex of closely related taxa that is currently undergoing revision. It differs from native broomrapes and the widely introduced O. minor because of its corolla color and branching habit (2). To our knowledge, this is the first record on M. lupulina although other species of Medicago are known hosts (L. J. Musselman, unpublished data). The site of the infestation is an approximately 230-m2 mowed area next to a carwash, suggesting that seeds could have come from trash removed from cars at the vacuuming station that vents onto the mowed area. Since the carwash is near a large naval base with a transient population, seeds could have come from anywhere in the world. This species exhibits little host specificity, and earlier studies have shown that numerous crops can be parasitized by plants grown from seed collected from broomrape on wild or ornamental hosts (3). Crops grown in the Middle Atlantic Region, which are especially susceptible to parasitism by O. ramosa, include potato (Solanum tuberosum), tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum). Because of the broad host range and potential damage by this parasite, as well as its record of expanding distribution, agricultural workers should be aware of its presence in the Mid-Atlantic States. Voucher specimens from this infestation have been deposited at the following herbaria: ODU, NCU, and VPI ( http://sciweb.nybg.org/science2/IndexHerbariorum.asp ). At the time of this publication, the USDA APHIS has initiated a control program for this first documented population in Virginia (2). References: (1) R. Jain and C. L. Foy. Weed Technol. 3:608, 1989. (2) L. J. Musselman. Castanea 47:266, 1982. (3) L. J. Musselman and C. Parker. Econ. Bot. 36:270, 1982. (4) D. L. Nickrent and L. J. Musselman. The Plant Health Instructor. Online publication. doi: 10.1094/PHI-I-2004-0330-01, 2004.
First Report of Phytoplasma Infection of Grasses in Singapore
Authors: Koh L. H. , Yap M. L. , Yik C. P. , Niu S. N. , Wong S. M. 
Published: January 2008

In September of 2005, patches of Cynodon dactylon showing symptoms of bleached leaves were first observed in an open field in Singapore. Samples were collected from this site, from which total DNA was extracted with a Qiagen DNeasy kit (Catalog No 69104) and analyzed for phytoplasma DNA by a PCR assay with phytoplasma universal primer pairs P1/PTint (3). Resulting PCR products were each diluted 1:30 with sterilized distilled water and used in nested PCR with primer pair R16F2n and R16R2 (1). Twenty-five C. dactylon samples were assessed by this means, of which eight of eight with bleached leaves and four of seventeen symptomless samples tested positive. Widened disease surveillance identified the grasses, Axonopus compressus and Paspalum conjugatum, with similar bleached leaf symptoms in December 2006 and May 2007, respectively. Twenty-three of fifty-three A. compressus and six of twenty P. conjugatum samples were detected as positive for phytoplasma infection with the above PCR methods. A comparative analysis of sequences derived from the three grass hosts determined that the phytoplasma infecting C. dactylon (Genbank Accession No. EU234510) was most similar (>99%) to ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma cynodontis’ (GenBank Accession No. AB052871.1), whereas those detected in A. compressus (Genbank Accession No. EU234511) and P. conjugatum (Genbank Accession No. EU234512) were most similar (>99%) to the Brachiaria white leaf phytoplasma (GenBank Accession No. AB052872.1) (2). To our knowledge, this is the first report of phytoplasmas in C. dactylon, A. compressus, and P. conjugatum in Singapore. References: (1) I. M. Lee et al. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 48:1153, 1998. (2) C. Marcone et al. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 54:1077, 2004. (3) C. D. Smart et al. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 62:2988, 1996.
Administrative reform in the federal public service: signs of a saturation psychosis
Authors: Laframboise H. L. 
Published: January 2008

Abstract. The thesis of this article is that managers in the federal public service have been required, in the past five years, to introduce and administer internal reforms which, in total, are far beyond the capacity of the system to absorb. As a result, managers have had to neglect their primary task of serving the public and are becoming increasingly impatient with the imposition of administrative reforms and the proportion of time required for their introduction and operation.In support of his thesis, the author spells out the consequences, in terms of the diversion of managerial effort, in implementing recommendations of the Glassco Report, collective bargaining, bilingualism and the decision to establish the Treasury Board Secretariat as ‘general manager and employer’ of the public service.The purpose of the article is to generate a debate which would lead to a more careful approach to introducing reforms and might even reverse some of the changes whose results do not warrant the effort required.Sommaire. La thèse de cet article, c'est que les cadres de la fonction publique fédérate ont dû, dans les cinq dernières années, initier et administrer des réformes internes qui, dans leur totalité, dépassent de beaucoup la capacité d'absorption du système. En conséquence, les cadres ont dû négliger leur tâche principale qui est de servir le public et ils tolèrent de moins en moins bien I'imposition de réiormes administratives et la perte du temps consacréà leur mise en vigueur.A l'appui de cette thèse, l'auteur expose les conséquences, du point de vue de la dispersion de l'effort des cadres, de l'application des recommendations du Rapport Glassco, des négotiations collectives, du bilinguisme et de la décision de faire du Secrétariat du Conseil du trésor ←le directeur général et l'employeur→ de la fonction publique.Le but de cet article est de susciter un débat qui aurait pour conséquence de faire aborder les réformes de façon plus prudente et qui pourrait même faire marche arrière lorsque les résultats des changements ne justifient pas l'effort requis.
Government in an urban society
Authors: Burns R. M. 
Published: January 2008

Abstract. The role of government is being increased by the growing demand for collective goods which only the public sector can supply but there has been no comparable political reform to meet the needs. The interaction of the various jurisdictions has become more complex and necessary. Although in the present period the forces of urbanization are dominant the problems cannot be solved within the existing powers available to municipal governments, nor in isolation from other levels of government.The major factor in the current unrest is imbalance of resources and responsibilities. No one has yet found a way to relate the capacity for most effective performance in the public sector with the capacity for the most effective use of public resources available to pay for them. The most serious aspect for the municipalities is that the taxes most capable of meeting the public demand are least suited to local administration.Some workable method must be found of reaching agreement on principles of governmental responsibility and of involving the municipalities, through consultation and collaboration, in the process of change. Everything seems to point to the desirability of extensive study and the staging of change so that various alternative solutions can be properly assessed.Sommaire. La demande croissante d'avantages collectifs que seul le secteur public peut fournir augmente l'importance du rôle du gouvernement mais sans qu'il y ait eu de réforme politique comparable pour répondre aux besoins. L'interaction des différentes juridictions est devenue plus complexe et plus nécessaire. A l'heure actuelle, les forces d'urbanisation dominent mais les gouvernements municipaux ne peuvent ni résoudre les problèmes qui en découlent avec les pouvoirs dont ils disposent, ni le faire indépendamment des autres niveaux de gouvernement.L'élément principal du malaise est le déséquilibre entre les ressources et les responsabilités. Personne n'a encore trouvé le moyen d'établir un rapport entre l'efficacité maximale des performances dans le secteur public et l'usage maximal des ressources publiques existantes pour les financer. L'aspect le plus grave de cette question pour les municipalités, c'est que les taxes qui peuvent permettre le mieux de satisfaire la demande du public sont celles qui se prêtent le moins bien à une administration locale.Il va falloir trouver une méthode pratique pour s'accorder sur les principes de la responsabilité gouvemementale et pour faire participer les municipalités au processus de changement par la consultation et la collaboration. Tout semble indiquer le besoin d'une étude approfondie et la nécessité de procéder par étapes de façon à pouvoir évaluer convenablement les différentes solutions possibles.