bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
First Report of Dollar Spot of Buffalograss Caused by Sclerotinia homoeocarpa in Oklahoma
Authors: Marek S. M. , Moncrief I. R. , Walker N. R. 
Published: July 2008

Buffalograss (Buchloe dactyloides (Nutt.) Engelm.) is a perennial, warm-season grass native to the central plains of North America and a dominant plant over much of the shortgrass prairie ecosystem. Its prostrate growth habit and excellent drought tolerance make it a commercially promising turfgrass species, and numerous turf-type cultivars have been released. In the spring of 2007, the southern plains states experienced prolonged periods of excessive precipitation during which numerous buffalograss swards throughout north-central Oklahoma exhibited symptoms of dollar spot (1). A fungus morphologically identical to Sclerotinia homoeocarpa Bennett was consistently isolated from diseased buffalograss leaves collected from three locations in Oklahoma, two from Payne County and one from Logan County. Thirty-day-old seedlings of B. dactyloides (‘Cody’ and ‘Topgun’) and Agrostis stolonifera (‘SR1020’) were inoculated by placing potato dextrose agar (PDA) plugs, colonized by mycelia of each S. homoeocarpa isolate, onto the seedlings' leaves. Sterile PDA plugs were placed on plants as controls. Leaf lesions developed after 4 days only on inoculated plants, and S. homoeocarpa was reisolated from lesions, satisfying Koch's postulates. The nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region was amplified from DNA extracted from cultures of the three buffalograss isolates and a bentgrass isolate using primers ITS4 and ITS5 (2) and sequenced. Sequences were similar to one another (97 to 99% identical), however, two isolates shared a 420-bp, type I intron in the 18S small subunit rDNA. A search of GenBank at NCBI found the ITS sequences were most similar to the ITS regions of other S. homoeocarpa accessions (97% identical). The ITS sequences from the four isolates were deposited in GenBank (Accession Nos. EU123800–EU123803). To our knowledge, this is the first report of dollar spot on a native, warm-season grass in the United States and the disease appears to be endemic to buffalograss in Oklahoma and Kansas (N. A. Tisserat, personal communication). References: (1) R. W. Smiley et al. Page 22 in: Compendium of Turfgrass Diseases. 3rd ed. The American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN, 2005. (2) T. J. White et al. Page 315 in: PCR Protocols: A Guide to Methods and Applications. Academic Press Inc., New York, 1990.
First Report of Tar Spot on Orange Geiger, Cordia sebestena, Caused by Diatractium cordianum in Florida
Authors: Palmateer A. J. , Pérez J. M. , Cating R. A. , Ploetz R. C. , Hoy M. A. 
Published: July 2008

In July 2007, tar spot symptoms were observed on the leaves of orange Geiger, Cordia sebestena L. (Boraginaceae), in the landscape and a commercial nursery in Homestead, FL. The disease appears to be spreading and is locally severe. Symptoms were circular, slightly hypertrophied spots approximately 5 to 8 cm in diameter, which were slightly chlorotic on the abaxial surface and had numerous circular blackened stroma, 0.2 to 0.4 mm in diameter, on the adaxial surface. As leaves aged and yellowed, the areas around the spots remained pale green. Embedded in the stroma were numerous perithecia, 173 to 312 μm in diameter, circular to irregular in shape, with lateral necks as much as 200 μm long and 73 to 104 μm in diameter. Asci, 77 to 92 × 11 to 13 μm, contained elongate, two-celled ascospores, 50 to 61 × 3 to 5 μm that had a conspicuous constriction at the dividing cell wall. These dimensions and the pathogen's appearance matched closely with those published for Diatractium cordianum (Ellis & Kelsey) Syd (1). Young, symptomless leaves of C. sebestena were sprayed to runoff with a suspension of ascospores approximately 104 ml–1 that were harvested from affected leaves. Inoculated leaves were placed on water-saturated paper towels in petri plates and maintained in a growth chamber at 25°C with fluorescent light at 10 h day–1. Symptoms similar to those observed on affected trees in the landscape began to develop after 21 days and perithecia were evident after 28 days. An ITS 1, ITS 2, and 5.8s rDNA sequence was deposited in GenBank (Accession No. EU541488). A herbarium specimen was deposited at the U.S. National Fungus Collections (BPI No. 878441). This is a new host record for D. cordianum and is the first time the pathogen has been reported in the United States. Previous records were from Venezuela and several Caribbean islands, including Cuba and Jamaica. Symptoms of this disease have not been observed on Texas wild olive, Cordia boissieri, in close proximity to affected C. sebestena. P. F. Cannon (1) indicated that the disease had no economic impact. However, the conspicuous nature of symptoms on C. sebestena and the importance of this tree in the South Florida ornamental trade (2) suggest that this disease may become significant on the latter host. References: (1) P. F. Cannon. Mycol. Res. 92:327, 1989. (2) E. F. Gilman and D. G. Watson. Fact Sheet ST-182. Univ. Fla, Fla Coop Ext. Serv., 1993.
First Report of Pine Wilt Disease on Pinus koraiensis in Korea
Authors: Han H. , Chung Y.-J. , Shin S.-C. 
Published: July 2008

Pine wilt disease is one of the most important forest tree diseases, especially in the East Asian countries of Japan, China, and Korea. The causal agent, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (3), is transmitted by the insect vectors, pine sawyer beetles (Monochamus spp.). The vectors mainly attack coniferous trees and the infected trees die within several weeks. In Korea, pine wilt disease was first reported in Busan City in 1988, and now, the damaged area covers 7,820 ha and more than 60 cities in Korea. The main host trees are Pinus densiflora and P. thunbergii, which are the most common pines distributed in Korea. In 2006, however, we found pine wilt disease in a forest of P. koraiensis located in Gwangju City in Gyeonggi Province. Symptoms were systemic and leaves turned brown or yellowish. Wood samples were collected from the affected trees, and nematodes were extracted by a modified Baermann's funnel method. After 24 h, nematodes were collected from wood chips, and morphology was observed with an inverted light microscope (Leica DE/DMI 3000B, Wetzlar, Germany). Morphology was characterized by a typical Aphelenchoid-type esophagus, head constriction, female vulva flap, female tail, and a male spicule shape similar to B. xylophilus. For more accurate identification, DNA was extracted from individual nematodes with a DNeasy Kit (Qiagen, Valencia, CA). The internal transcribed spacers (ITS) 1 and 2 and 5.8S regions were amplified by PCR (1). Sequenced nucleotide information was compared with the sequences of B. xylophilus already reported in GenBank (Accession Nos. AB294736, AB277208, AM 157747, AY 347913, and BXU92464). ITS DNA sequences of the nematode from Korean pine was >99% identical to B. xylophilus in GenBank. The B. xylophilus from Korean pine tree was also successfully cultured in Botrytis cinerea medium and pathogenicity was tested from June to October 2007. More than 95% mortality was observed with the inoculation of 20 replicate 15-year-old trees of P. koraiensis and P. densiflora with 15,000 nematodes per tree. Therefore, we confirmed that pine wilt disease occurred in P. koraiensis in Korea. P. koraiensis is an endemic species in Korea and distribution is limited to the northern Korean Peninsula and some locations in Russia. It has been shown that P. koraiensis is susceptible to the pine wood nematode by an inoculation test in Japan (2); however, to our knowledge, this is the first report of pine wilt disease on P. koraiensis under field conditions in Korea. References: (1) W. K. Burgermeister et al. Russ. J. Nematol. 13:29, 2005. (2) K. Futai and T. Furuno. Bull. Kyoto Univ. For. 51:3, 1979. (3) G. Steiner and E. M. Buhrer. J. Agr. Res. 48:946, 1934.
High Susceptibility of Olive Cultivar FS-17 to Alternaria alternata in Southern Spain
Authors: Moral J. , De la Rosa R. , León L. , Barranco D. , Michailides T. J. , Trapero A. 
Published: July 2008

Traditional olive orchards in Spain have been planted at a density of 70 to 80 trees per ha with three trunks per tree. During the last decade, the hedgerow orchard, in which planting density is approximately 2,000 trees per ha, was developed. In 2006 and 2007, we noted a severe outbreak of fruit rot in FS-17, a new cultivar from Italy, in an experimental hedgerow planting in Córdoba, southern Spain. The incidence of fruit rot in ‘FS-17’ was 80% in January of 2006 and 24% in January of 2007. Cvs. Arbosana, IRTA-i18 (a selected clone from ‘Arbequina’), and Koroneiki had no symptoms in either year of the study. Disease incidence in ‘Arbequina’ was <0.1% only in 2006. Affected fruits were soft with gray-white skin and they eventually mummified. Black-green sporodochia were observed on the surface of diseased fruits. A fungus was isolated from diseased fruits on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated at 22 to 26°C with a 12-h photoperiod. After 8 days of growing on PDA, fungal colonies formed conidial chains having a main axis with up to 10 conidia and secondary and tertiary short branches with two to four conidia. Conidia were obpyriform, ovoid, or ellipsoidal, without a beak or with a short beak, had up to four transverse septa, and measured 11.7 to 24.7 (mean 19.6) μm long and 7.7 to 13.0 (mean 9.6) μm wide at the broadest part of the conidium. The length of the beak of conidia was variable, ranging from 0 to 28.6 (mean 5.5) μm. The fungus was identified as Alternaria alternata (1). Pathogenicity tests were performed by spraying 40 mature fruits of ‘FS-17’ with a spore suspension (1 × 106 spores per ml). The same number of control fruits was treated with water. After 21 days, inoculated fruit developed symptoms that had earlier been observed in the field. A. alternata was reisolated from lesions on all infected fruits. The fungus was not isolated from any of the control fruits. The experiment was performed twice. The new growing system and the high susceptibility of some olive cultivars, such as FS-17, may result in a high incidence of disease caused by a pathogen that is generally characterized as weakly virulent. To our knowledge, this is the first report of A. alternata causing a severe outbreak of fruit rot on olive trees in the field. References: (1) B. M. Pryor and T. J. Michailides. Phytopathology 92:406, 2002.
Crown Rot of Strawberry Caused by Macrophomina phaseolina in California
Authors: Koike S. T. 
Published: July 2008

In 2006 and 2007, severely diseased strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) plants were observed in five commercial fields in southern California (Orange County). Disease generally occurred in discrete patches. Within such patches, disease incidence ranged from 10 to 75%. Symptoms consisted of wilting of foliage, drying and death of older leaves, plant stunting, and eventual collapse and death of plants. When plant crowns were dissected, internal vascular and cortex tissues were dark brown to orange brown. Fruiting bodies or other fungal structures were not observed. A fungus was consistently isolated from symptomatic crown tissue that had been surface sterilized and placed on acidified corn meal agar (LA-CMA). All isolates produced numerous, dark, irregularly shaped sclerotia that were 67 to 170 μm long and 44 to 133 μm wide. When isolates were grown on 1.5% water agar with dried and sterilized wheat straw, dark, ostiolate pycnidia and hyaline, single-celled, cylindrical conidia were produced. On the basis of these characters, all isolates were identified as Macrophomina phaseolina (1). The symptomatic plants tested negative for Colletotrichum spp., Phytophthora spp., Verticillium dahliae, and other pathogens. Inoculum for pathogenicity tests was produced by growing six isolates on CMA on which sterilized wood toothpicks were placed on the agar surface. After 1 week, toothpicks were removed and inserted 4 to 5 mm deep into the basal crown tissue of potted strawberry plants (cv. Camarosa) grown in soilless, peatmoss-based rooting medium. Ten plants were inoculated per isolate and one toothpick was inserted per plant. Ten control strawberry plants were treated by inserting one sterile toothpick into each crown. All plants were then grown in a shadehouse. After 2 weeks, all inoculated plants began to show wilting and decline of foliage. By 4 weeks, all inoculated plants had collapsed. Internal crown tissue was discolored and similar in appearance to the original field plants. M. phaseolina was isolated from all inoculated plants. Control plants did not exhibit any disease symptoms, and crown tissue was symptomless. The test was repeated and the results were similar. While M. phaseolina has been periodically associated with strawberry in California (3), to my knowledge, this is the first report of charcoal rot disease on commercial strawberry in California. Charcoal rot of strawberry has been reported in Egypt, France, India, Israel, and the United States (Florida and Illinois) (2,4). Similar to previous reports (2,4), many of the affected California fields were not preplant fumigated with methyl bromide + chloropicrin fumigants, and it is possible that under these changing production practices this pathogen may increase in importance in California. References: (1) P. Holliday and E. Punithalingam. No. 275 in: Descriptions of Pathogenic Fungi and Bacteria. CMI, Kew, Surrey, UK, 1970. (2) J. Mertely et al. Plant Dis.89:434, 2005. (3) S. Wilhelm. Plant Dis. Rep. 41:941, 1957. (4) A. Zveibil and S. Freeman. Plant Dis. 89:1014, 2005.
First Report of Black raspberry necrosis virus in Rubus canadensis in Tennessee
Authors: Sabanadzovic S. , Ghanem-Sabanadzovic N. Abou 
Published: July 2008

Symptoms that resembled virus infection were observed on several smooth blackberry (Rubus canadensis L.) plants in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park (GSMNP) during a project carried out in the summer and fall of 2006 as part of All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) activities (2). Diseased specimens showed chlorosis and mottling as well as deformation of younger leaves. Symptomatic leaves were collected, and preliminary screening by double-antibody sandwich (DAS)-ELISA did not detect Tobacco ringspot virus (TRSV), Tomato ringspot virus (ToRSV), Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), Raspberry bushy dwarf virus (RBDV), or Impatiens necrotic spot virus (INSV) in these samples. Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) extracted from symptomatic leaves of two diseased specimens (GSM-1 and GSM-2) revealed two bands with sizes estimated at 7.5 and 6.5 kb. Purified dsRNAs from specimen GSM-1 were used as a template to generate random-primed cDNA clones. Several clones were sequenced and analysis of approximately 3 kb of contiguous sequence (GenBank Accession No. EU419645) revealed the presence of a single open reading frame encoding a protein containing the complete proteinase and partial polymerase domains. BLAST analysis showed that the virus from R. canadensis shared 77 and 87% nucleotide and amino acid sequence identity, respectively, with the recently described putative sadwavirus Black raspberry necrosis virus (BRNV) (GenBank Accession No. NC_008182) (1), suggesting that this virus is a distinct isolate of BRNV. The virus shared a lower degree of identity with the analogous sequences of other viruses belonging to the genus Sadwavirus, with only 48 and 37% identity with Strawberry mottle virus (GenBank Accession No. NC_003445) and Satsuma dwarf virus (GenBank Accession No. NC_003785), respectively. To our knowledge, this is the first report of BRNV in GSMNP and Tennessee, indicating that it may be widespread in native Rubus spp. through the southeastern United States. References: (1) A. Halgren et al. Phytopathology 97:44, 2007. (2) M. J. Sharkey. Fla. Entomol. 84:556, 2001.
Differential profiling of selected defence‐related genes induced on challenge with Alternaria brassicicola in resistant white mustard and their comparative expression pattern in susceptible India mustard
Authors: GHOSE KAUSHIK , DEY SANJUKTA , BARTON HANNAH , LOAKE GARY J. , BASU DEBABRATA 
Published: July 2008

SUMMARYThe lack of availability of sources of resistance against Alternaria brassicicola within the family Brassicaceae has made oilseed mustard plants a target for one of the most damaging and widespread fungal diseases, Alternaria black spot. Of the other non‐host‐resistant/tolerant plants, Sinapis alba, white mustard, is considered to be the most important apart from Arabidopsis. To understand the defence response of S. alba upon incompatible interaction with this pathogen, a functional genomic approach using cDNA amplified fragment length polymorphism was performed. The highly reproducible bands, found to be either more amplified or uniquely present in infected S. alba plants compared with non‐infected plants, were further subjected to comparative reverse Northern analysis in the incompatible white mustard (S. alba) and compatible India mustard (Brassica juncea L.) plants. The suppression of 46% of the genes in the compatible background indicates the possibility of effective and specific recognition of Alternaria in S. alba. Analysis of the 118 genes up‐regulated specifically in infected S. alba compared with B. juncea showed that 98 genes have similarity to proteins such as receptor‐like protein kinase genes, genes involved with calcium‐mediated signalling and salicylic acid‐dependent genes as well as other genes of known function in Arabidopsis. The apparent expression profile data were further confirmed for selected genes by quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction analysis. Classification of these genes on the basis of their induction pattern in Arabidopsis indicates that the expression profile of several of these genes was distinct in S. alba compared with B. juncea.
ABCB1 polymorphisms may have a minor effect on ciclosporin blood concentrations in myasthenia gravis patients
Authors: Zhang Ya‐tong , Yang Li‐ping , Shao Hong , Li Ke‐xin , Sun Chun‐hua , Shi Lu‐wen 
Published: July 2008

WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT THIS SUBJECT• Numerous studies have shown that MDR1 polymorphisms in the form of single nucleotide poymorphisms or haplptype affect ciclosporin pharmacokinetics or blood concentrations in organ transplantation patients, but some results conflict with others.WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS• We had thought that the diease condition might conceal the minor effect of MDR1 polymorphisms.• We chose myasthenia gravis patients as a population in which disease conditions were less severe.• We also used different pharmacokinetics indices, such as dose‐adjusted trough blood concentrations, dose‐adjusted peak blood concentrations and trough blood concentrations under the same ciclosporin regimen.AIMSCiclosporin (CsA), which is widely used in autoimmune disease and transplantation, has a narrow therapeutic index. It also shows considerable interindividual variability in its pharmacokinetics, which may be attributable to polymorphisms of the multidrug efflux pump P‐glycoprotein, encoded by MDR‐1. The aim was to determine the role of genetic polymorphisms in MDR‐1 with respect to interindividual variability of CsA blood concentrations in myasthenia gravis (MG) patients.METHODSMG patients (n = 129) receiving CsA were genotyped for MDR‐1 1236C→T (exon 12), 2677G→T (exon 21) and 3435C→T (exon 26). Trough blood and peak blood concentrations were determined to see if there was correlation with the corresponding genotype.RESULTSWe observed a trend for CsA blood concentrations, especially peak blood concentrations, to be higher with the wild‐type allele compared with minor alleles in genotype and haplotype. Furthermore, under the same CsA regimen, it was found that the trough concentrations of variant genotype (ABCB1 1236TT or ABCB1 2677TT) were significant greater than those of wild‐type (ABCB1 1236CC or ABCB1 2677GG, respectively) (P = 0.0222 and 0.0081). The trough concentrations of wild‐type haplotype pair group were significantly lower those that of the mutant type pair group (TT‐TT‐TT) (P = 0.007).CONCLUSIONSABCB1 polymorphisms in both genotype and haplotype may have a minor effect on the CsA blood concentrations.
Effects of pre‐ vs. intra‐dialysis folic acid on arterial wave reflections and endothelial function in patients with end‐stage renal disease
Authors: Tochihara Yuka , Whiting Malcolm J. , Barbara Jeffrey A. , Mangoni Arduino A. 
Published: July 2008

WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT THIS SUBJECT • Endothelial dysfunction and increased arterial wave reflection increase the risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients with end‐stage renal disease on haemodialysis.• Folic acid enhances endothelial function, but its effects in end‐stage renal disease are controversial.• Haemodialysis is associated with a significant reduction in the serum concentrations of folic acid as well as other biochemical factors impairing endothelial function. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS • Preventing folic acid loss during haemodialysis is associated with a reduction in arterial wave reflection but no significant changes in endothelial‐dependent vasodilation.• Given the prognostic significance of arterial wave reflections in end‐stage renal disease, the timing of folic acid may be important when designing interventional trials. The rapid replenishment of folic acid levels depleted during haemodialysis would ensure higher serum folic acid concentrations between haemodialysis sessions.BACKGROUNDHaemodialysis (HD) is associated with the acute loss through the dialysis membrane of biochemical factors either enhancing [folic acid (F)] or impairing [asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA)] arterial function. Changes in these opposing factors might explain the absence of significant modifications in arterial function during HD. We speculated that intra‐HD, instead of pre‐HD, F administration would provide beneficial effects on arterial wave reflections and endothelial function by preventing HD‐induced F loss.METHODSArterial wave reflections [augmentation index (AIx), pulse‐wave analysis], endothelium‐dependent vasodilation (salbutamol‐mediated changes in AIx) and plasma concentrations of F and ADMA were measured pre‐HD and end‐HD in 10 patients (age 67.7 ± 10.3 years). Each subject received F 5 mg either pre‐HD or intra‐HD in two separate studies 2–4 weeks apart, in an open‐label randomized cross‐over trial.RESULTSPre‐HD F administration did not prevent significant reductions in F during HD (end‐HD vs. pre‐HD, −865 ± 465 nmol l−1, P < 0.001), but no significant changes in AIx (+1.4 ± 5.7%) or salbutamol‐mediated AIx modifications (+0.4 ± 5.5%) were observed. By contrast, intra‐HD F administration was associated with significant increases in F (+298 ± 283 nmol l−1, P = 0.010) and a significant reduction of AIx (−4.7 ± 7.2%, P = 0.013), but no effects on salbutamol‐mediated AIx changes (+1.5 ± 4.4%). There was a trend towards greater HD‐induced reductions in plasma ADMA concentrations with intra‐HD F administration (P = 0.066).CONCLUSIONSIntra‐HD F administration reduces arterial wave reflections but not endothelial function during HD. Given the prognostic significance of arterial wave reflections in HD patients, the timing of F administration is important in the design of interventional trials in this cohort.