#Controlling zebra chip disease from the inside outzebra chip disease in potatoes is currently being managed by controlling the potato psyllid with insecticides.
But one Texas A&m Agrilife Extension service specialist is trying to manage the disease symptoms with alternative methods and chemistries.
The disease is caused by a bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum which is transmitted by the psyllid said Dr. Ron French Agrilife Extension plant pathologist in Amarillo.
We are trying to alleviate the disease symptoms on tubers and throughout the plant and improve plant health
so that any negative impacts the psyllid bacterium disease or pesticide use are having on the plant can translate into improved yields.
His efforts to control the pathogen using foliar applications of a bactericide has had good results for two years
If we can include bactericides in a program that can minimize insecticide use then this could be integrated part of an disease management approach he said.
In his approach to the plant defense response French said he is trying to produce something like a systemic acquired resistance or induced systemic resistance response from the potato against the pathogen.
if the plant can actually trigger a mechanism to defend itself from the pathogen and the psyllid as well he said.
Year after year there are differences in the field as far as climate disease pressure insect pressure--so sometimes we have to go to the lab to figure out why it works one time and not another.
or the pathogen and any nutrient imbalances that result or any phytotoxicity that might occur after applying pesticides French said.
whether it is for plant defense responses pathogen control plant health on top of what the growers is applying he said.
since 2006 for citrus greening or Huanglongbing in Florida to treat the disease symptoms and yields.
This disease is caused by Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus and is transmitted by the citrus psyllid. After several years of work French said his studies are beginning to raise more interest from the industry to get products labeled or at least tested.
Boiling water to remove contaminants requires a great deal of fuel to heat the water. Membrane-based filters while able to remove microbes are expensive require a pump
but did not filter out contaminants. There's huge variation between plants Karnik says. There could be much better plants out there that are suitable for this process.
Farmers often keep calves in individual pens believing this helps to reduce the spread of disease.
and using antibiotics in hives to keep the bees disease-free. To help regulate honey safety We have strict import laws that apply to honey coming from certain countries he says.
and the fact that their saliva is the primary cause of feeding injury to plants
#Climate change puts wheat crops at risk of diseasethere is a risk that severity of epidemics of some wheat diseases may increase within the next ten to twenty years due to the impacts of climate change
The researchers carried out a survey in China to establish a link between weather and the severity of epidemics of fusarium ear blight on the wheat crops.
This weather-based model was used then to predict the impact on severity of the disease of future weather scenarios for the period from 2020 to 2050.
Fusarium ear blight is a serious disease affecting wheat across many areas of the world.
During severe epidemics wheat crop losses can be as much as sixty per cent. These losses can become larger as under certain conditions the fusarium pathogen produces toxic chemicals known as mycotoxins.
The levels of mycotoxins present in the grain may render it unsuitable for either human
We know that the weather plays a big part in the development of the disease on the wheat crops--the incidence of the disease is determined by temperature and the occurrence of wet weather at the flowering or anthesis of the wheat crops.
and the incidence of the ear blight disease on the wheat crops will substantially increase.
The research suggests that climate change will increase the risk of serious ear blight epidemics on winter wheat in Central China by the middle of this century (2020-2050.
and an ever-growing population it is essential to improve the control of crop diseases like fusarium ear blight around the globe.
Some operations that rear and sterilize insects such as one in Guatemala that produces many of the sterile medflies dropped over Florida's major ports roughly every seven days do employ low-oxygen conditions called hypoxia or anoxia.
This is the first time a study has been published that supports the protective role of the bioactive compounds in strawberries in tackling recognised markers and risk factors for cardiovascular diseases.
#Drone shows new view of energy coal ash spillaerial images captured by a drone aircraft provide a new look at the extent of contaminants leaked into a North carolina river from a Duke energy coal ash dump as concerns about water pollution grow
It could be an effective means to monitor the extent of environmental contamination in the case of similar incidents.
With the continuing rise of resistance the research published in the journal Genome Biology is key as scientists say that this knowledge could help improve malaria control strategies.
Mosquitoes (Anopheles funestus) are vectors of malaria and most strategies for combating the spread of the disease focus on control of mosquito populations using insecticides.
The spread of resistance genes could hold back efforts to prevent the disease. The authors say that knowing how resistance works will help to develop tests
and stop these genes from spreading amongst mosquito populations. Charles Wondji said:''We found a population of mosquitoes fully resistant to DDT (no mortality
#As hubs for bees, pollinators, flowers may be crucial in disease transmissionlike a kindergarten or a busy airport where cold viruses and other germs circulate freely flowers are common gathering places where pollinators such as bees
or viral infections that might be as benign as the sniffles or as debilitating as influenza.
But almost nothing is known regarding how pathogens of pollinators are transmitted at flowers postdoctoral researcher Scott Mcart
and Professor Lynn Adler at the University of Massachusetts Amherst write. As major hubs of plant-animal interactions throughout the world flowers are ideal venues for the transmission of microbes among plants and animals.
and identify promising areas for future research on how floral traits influence pathogen transmission. As the authors point out Given recent concerns about pollinator declines caused in part by pathogens the role of floral traits in mediating pathogen transmission is a key area for further research.
They say their synthesis could help efforts to control economically devastating pollinator-vectored plant pathogens such as fire blight
which affects rose family fruits such as apples and pears and mummyberry disease which attacks blueberries. Mcart adds Our intent with this paper is to stimulate interest in the fascinating yet poorly understood microbial world of flowers.
We found several generalities in how plant pathogens are transmitted at flowers yet the major take-home from our paper may be in pointing out that this is an important gap in our knowledge.
The authors identified 187 studies pertaining to plant pathogens published between 1947 and 2013 in
which floral visitors were implicated in transmission and where transmission must have occurred at flowers or pathogen-induced pseudoflowers.
These are flower-like structures made by a pathogen that can look and smell like a real flower for example.
Regarding animal pathogens they identified 618 studies published before September 2013 using the same criteria.
In total we found eight major groups of animal pathogens that are transmitted potentially at flowers including a trypanosomatid fungi bacteria
and RNA VIRUSES they note. Their paper Arranging the bouquet of disease: Floral traits and the transmission of plant and animal pathogens was featured in the publisher's News Round up of most newsworthy research.
Traditionally research on flower evolution has focused largely on selection by pollinators but as Mcart and colleagues point out pollinators that also transmit pathogens may reduce the benefits to the plant of attracting them depending on the costs and benefits of pollination.
The researchers say more work is needed before scientists can know whether a flower's chemical or physical traits determine the likelihood that pathogens are transmitted for example
and whether infection by pathogens is an inevitable consequence of pollinator visitation. Plant pathologists have made great strides in identifying floral traits that mediate host plant resistance to floral pathogens in individual systems;
synthesizing this literature can provide generality in identifying traits that mediate plant-pathogen dynamics. From the pollinator's perspective there has been surprisingly little work elucidating the role of flowers and floral traits for pathogen transmission.
Given recent concerns about pollinator declines caused in part by pathogens understanding the role of floral traits in disease transmission is a key missing element say Mcart and colleagues.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Note:
Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference e
#In the eye of a chicken, a new state of matter comes into viewalong with eggs soup
and rubber toys the list of the chicken's most lasting legacies may eventually include advanced materials such as self-organizing colloids
or optics that can transmit light with the efficiency of a crystal and the flexibility of a liquid.
and controlling light waves the researchers report in the journal Physical Review E. States of disordered hyperuniformity behave like crystal and liquid states of matter exhibiting order over large distances and disorder over small distances.
The lab of co-corresponding author Joseph Corbo an associate professor of pathology and immunology and genetics at Washington University in St louis studies how the chicken's unusual visual layout evolved.
DMS-1211087) National Cancer Institute (grant no. U54ca143803; the National institutes of health (grant nos. EY018826 HG006346 and HG006790;
#Genetically modified spuds beat blightin a three-year GM research trial scientists boosted resistance of potatoes to late blight their most important disease without deploying fungicides.
The introduced gene from a South american wild relative of potato triggers the plant's natural defense mechanisms by enabling it to recognize the pathogen.
and by the time a gene is introduced successfully into a cultivated variety the late blight pathogen may already have evolved the ability to overcome it said Professor Jonathan Jones from The Sainsbury Laboratory.
With new insights into both the pathogen and its potato host we can use GM technology to tip the evolutionary balance in favor of potatoes and against late blight.
Their research will allow resistance genes to be prioritized that will be more difficult for the pathogen to evade.
By combining understanding of resistance genes with knowledge of the pathogen they hope to develop Desiree
which is related to the risk of life-threatening diseases. More than 26 percent of 2-to 5-year-old children nationwide were considered overweight defined as having a BMI above the 85th percentile in 2009 and 2010 up from 21 percent a decade earlier The researchers linked data
#Managed honeybees linked to new diseases in wild bees, UK study showsdiseases that are managed common in honeybee colonies are now widespread in the UK's wild bumblebees according to research published in Nature.
The study suggests that some diseases are being driven into wild bumblebee populations from managed honeybees.
Our results suggest that emerging diseases spread from managed bees may be an important cause of wild bee decline.
This research assessed common honeybee diseases to determine if they could pass from honeybees to bumblebees.
This means that it is acting as a real disease; they are not just carriers.
The researchers also looked at how the diseases spread and studied genetic similarities between DWV in different pollinator populations.
bumblebee infection is predicted by patterns of honeybee infection; and honeybees and bumblebees at the same sites share genetic strains of DWV.
What our data show is that these same pathogens are circulating widely across our wild
Infected honeybees can leave traces of disease like a fungal spore or virus particle on the flowers that they visit and these may then infect wild bees.
The results suggest an urgent need for management recommendations to reduce the threat of emerging diseases to our wild
National societies and agencies both in the UK and globally currently manage so-called honeybee diseases on the basis that they are a threat only to honeybees.
Policies to manage these diseases need to take into account threats to wild pollinators and be designed to reduce the impact of these diseases not just on managed honeybees but on our wild bumblebees too.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Biotechnology and Biological sciences Research Council. Note:
and disability legacy of current smoking will endure for decades in China. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by BMJ-British Medical Journal.
These coatings included significant amounts of soil organic carbon microbes and pathogens. After the coatings dried they were incorporated into the topsoil layer of the alluvial soils using tillage equipment. â#oebecause the flooding occurred during the non-growing season for corn
#Studies of cow antibodies help scientists understand how our own bodies workunderstanding how antibodies work is important for designing new vaccines to fight infectious diseases
and certain types of cancer and for treating disorders of the immune system in animals and humans.
and neutralize a wide range of pathogens directly depends on the diversity of our antibody repertoire--the more different kinds of antibodies we have in our bodies the more different kinds of targets we can block said Ekiert.
In addition to the obvious benefit of helping us understand the human immune system the research may benefit the large-scale raising of cattle an important segment of the U s. economy as new vaccines can be developed to protect farm animals from common cattle diseases.
#Controlling stone fruit disease: New approaches foundresearchers at the University and East Malling Research have identified a new way of controlling a fungal disease that can have a devastating impact on the UK's valuable cherry and plum crops.
Brown rot disease--caused by the agent Monilinia laxa--attacks stone fruit as well as causing blossom wilt
and twig canker. Traditionally this has been controlled through the use of fungicide treatments but in some cases these are now becoming ineffective.
Now researchers from the two organizations have identified a new strategy for controlling the disease using biological control agents derived from isolates from UK cherries and plums.
The researchers identified 12 possible isolates and then narrowed this down to two via a series of tests on detached fruit.
Controlled sets of cherries and plums--with and without the biological control agents added--were placed in conditions known to induce the onset of brown rot disease.
'Brown rot disease is a major problem for the UK's cherry and plum producers and in a growing number of cases traditional fungicide treatments are becoming ineffective.'
'Our research found that microbial antagonists against the brown rot disease can be found from indigenous sources in the UK
and that they are capable of preventing the disease in controlled conditions.''The challenge now will be to see
and be used by the stone fruit industry to control brown rot disease.''Currently East Malling Research is exploiting ways with commercial companies to formulate the two strains of biocontrol agents and conduct pilot commercial trialling of formulated products.
Developing biocontrol methods and their integration in sustainable pest and disease management in blackcurrant production.
#Study on flu evolution may change textbooks, history booksa new study reconstructing the evolutionary tree of flu viruses challenges conventional wisdom
and solves some of the mysteries surrounding flu outbreaks of historical significance. The study published in the journal Nature provides the most comprehensive analysis to date of the evolutionary relationships of influenza virus across different host species over time.
In addition to dissecting how the virus evolves at different rates in different host species the study challenges several tenets of conventional wisdom--for example the notion that the virus moves largely unidirectionally from wild birds to domestic birds rather than with spillover
in the other direction. It also helps resolve the origin of the virus that caused the unprecedentedly severe influenza pandemic of 1918 The new research is likely to change how scientists
and health experts look at the history of influenza virus how it has changed genetically over time
and how it has jumped between different host species. The findings may have implications ranging from the assessment of health risks for populations to developing vaccines.
when and from where pandemic viruses emerged. Once you resolve the evolutionary trees for these viruses correctly everything snaps into place
Using the new family tree of the flu virus as a map showed which species moved to which host species and when.
It revealed that for several of its 8 genomic segments avian influenza virus is not nearly as ancient as often assumed.
which included UA graduate student Guan-Zhu Han and Andrew Rambaut a professor from the University of Edinburgh who is affiliated also with the U s. National institutes of health found a strong signature in the data suggesting that something revolutionary happened to avian influenza virus
Worobey said the timing is provocative because of the correlation of that sudden shift in the flu virus'evolution with historical events in the late nineteenth century.
In the 1870s an immense horse flu outbreak swept across North america Worobey said City by city
The horse flu outbreak pulled the rug out from under the economy. According to Worobey the newly generated evolutionary trees show a global replacement of the genes in the avian flu virus coinciding closely with the horse flu outbreak
which the analyses also reveal to be the closest relative to the avian virus. Interestingly a previous research paper analyzing old newspaper records reported that in the days following the horse flu outbreak there were repeated outbreaks described at the time as influenza killing chickens
and other domestic birds Worobey said. That's another unexpected link in the history and the there is a possibility that the two might be connected given
Ever since the influenza pandemic of 1918 it has not been possible to narrow down even to a hemisphere the geographic origins of any of the genes of the pandemic virus. Our study changes that Worobey said.
The results also challenge the accepted wisdom of wild birds as the major reservoir harboring the flu virus from where it jumps to domestic birds
Products of biodiversity within culturally-based diets provide essential micronutrients and lower prevalence of diet-related chronic disease.
In many cases the result is a form of malnutrition defined by overconsumption of calories.
This has helped fuel a growing global epidemic of obesity and chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Our results show that Vitamin c deficiency should be considered a risk factor for this severe type of stroke as were high blood pressure drinking alcohol
Vitamin c deficiency has also been linked to heart disease. The study was supported by the University of Rennes France.
#Grape seed promise in fight against bowel canceruniversity of Adelaide research has shown for the first time that grape seed can aid the effectiveness of chemotherapy in killing colon cancer cells as well as reducing the chemotherapy's side effects.
Published in the journal PLOS ONE the researchers say that combining grape seed extracts with chemotherapy has potential as a new approach for bowel cancer treatment--to both reduce intestinal damage commonly caused by cancer chemotherapy
This is the first study showing that grape seed can enhance the potency of one of the major chemotherapy drugs in its action against colon cancer cells says Dr Cheah researcher in the School of Agriculture Food and Wine.
The extract was tested in laboratory studies using colon cancer cells grown in culture. The research showed grape seed extract:
â#¢decreased chemotherapy-induced inflammation by up to 55%â#¢increased growth-inhibitory effects of chemotherapy on colon cancer cells in culture by 26%Our experimental studies have shown that grape
Grape seed is showing great potential as an anti-inflammatory treatment for a range of bowel diseases and now as a possible anticancer treatment.
and aids in improving the GHG mitigation potential of corn-derived renewable fuels continued Jayasundara.
#Drought contributed to Typhus epidemics in Mexico from 1655 to 1918, study showsepidemiological data integrated with climate data taken from tree-ring estimates of soil moisture levels demonstrate that drought contributed to the spread of typhus in Mexico from 1655 to 1918 according to a new study by researchers
at the University of Arkansas. The study has modern-day policy implications because although typhus can be treated with modern antibiotics it remains a threat in remote impoverished areas of South america Asia
and Africa and could reemerge as a serious infectious disease especially where social strife and underdeveloped public health programs persist.
The researchers describe their findings in an article published Feb 11 in Emerging Infectious diseases a Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention journal that tracks and analyzes disease trends. Historical records show that typhus has accompanied traditionally war famine
and poverty said David Stahle a Distinguished Professor of geosciences. Now because of Mexico's rich historical record of epidemic disease we can see that drought as reconstructed by tree-ring chronologies caused conditions that allowed typhus to flourish in central Mexico over a 250-year period.
Stahle and Jordan Burns a graduate student in geography at the U of A compared historical records of 22 typhus epidemics in central Mexico with soil moisture estimates based on tree-ring reconstructions.
They analyzed data gleaned from almanacs diaries and personal accounts as well as medical and death records from hospitals physicians cemeteries and municipalities.
They compared this with instrumental data for the Palmer Drought Severity Index or PDSI an index of the effects of temperature and precipitation on soil moisture dating back to 1895.
Below-average tree growth drought and low crop yields occurred during 19 of the 22 typhus epidemics.
The observed relationship between drought and typhus epidemics in colonial and modern Mexico is curious
because drought has not been considered specifically a risk factor for typhus Burns said. But drought much like war and natural disasters caused famine in poor agricultural regions
Epidemic typhus is caused an infectious disease by a bacterium transmitted between people by body lice. The disease spreads where conditions are crowded and unsanitary.
It is recognized for its high mortality rate throughout human history particularly before modern sanitary practices and the availability of antimicrobial drugs.
Despite these advances the disease persists in some areas of Africa South america and Asia and has not been eliminated from industrialized regions
Dr Harrison explains that Increased terrestriality is expected to increase predation risk interactions with and persecution by humans and exposure to novel diseases.
#Genetic find might lead to cattle that are more resistant to TBSCIENTISTS have identified genetic traits in cattle that might allow farmers to breed livestock with increased resistance to bovine tuberculosis (TB.
The study which compared the genetic code of TB-infected animals with that of disease-free cattle could help to impact on a disease that leads to major economic losses worldwide.
#Black raspberry candies find the sweet spot for cancer prevention studywhether it's a plate or pyramid healthy eating guidelines always give fruits
and that experts think may help prevent illnesses like cancer diabetes and heart disease. The research around these superfoods make headlines almost daily
Variations in storage seasonal availability absorption--these things can all change disease-fighting substances in fresh produce says Yael Vodovotz Phd a food scientist with The Ohio State university Department of Food Science
For instance if we give study participants a daily cup of fruit--these variations can make drawing high-quality conclusions about the fruit's efficacy to prevent or slow disease difficult.
In 2009 Vodovotz's team was approached by scientists from Ohio State's Comprehensive Cancer Center--Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital
and Food Innovation Center (FIC) Vodovotz has developed now novel black raspberry-based functional foods that can withstand the rigors of a large-scale cancer prevention trial.
Black raspberries--not to be confused with the more recognizable red variety--have piqued the interest of cancer scientists in the last decade due to research showing they have distinct antioxidant
and anti-inflammatory properties that appear to inhibit tumor growth. But the berries are grown only in a few places around the US (Ohio being one of them)
The black raspberry formulations are currently being used in a clinical study of men with prostate cancer undergoing surgery.
and Vodovotz on the cancer study says that she is amazed that the food scientist team was able to engineer such a potent concoction that patients also seemed to enjoy.
and Food Chemistrydetailing the production and manufacturing process as well as testing that showed both formulations maintained nearly 75%of key cancer-fighting chemicals for approximately 5 weeks in a controlled temperature setting.
and body fluids--a key measure that that the disease prevention powers of the berry food had made successfully it past the digestive system to reach organs throughout the body.
which has some of the highest cancer rates in America--that don't have regular access to fresh fruits and vegetables noted Vodovtoz.
and treat diseases such as breast cancer and pancreatitis. Roberts is also planning to study how the body's natural gut bacteria impact the digestion of berry-based compounds.
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