Update: New Pest & Disease Records (31 Oct 12)
We’ve selected a few of the latest new geographic, host and species records for plant pests and diseases from CAB Abstracts. Records this fortnight include new pest (Duponchelia fovealis) recorded in a peanut field, the first record of Teratopactus nodicollis in dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) and a new distributional record of buff coconut mealybug in Kerala.
Colorado Potato Beetles Left With A Sour Taste As Clover Is Found To Be As Effective As Pesticides
Eggplant or aubergine (Solanum melongena) is a crop often attacked by the Colorado Potato Beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata), a major insect pest of plants from the Solanaceae family including potato, tomato and eggplant throughout North America, Europe and Asia. This insect pest is exceptionally destructive to crops and readily develops resistance to a wide variety of…
Update: Plant Health News (24 Oct 12)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including reports of Aster yellows infecting 60% of Canadian Canola, the identification of a recent maize virus in Kenya and the development of dual disease resistant Cassava. Click on the link to read more of the latest plant health news!
Plant Pest Interactions: How Soybean Aphids Trick Soybean Plant Defences
Following on from a previous blog on the interactions between soybean plants and soybean pests, new research on soybean (Glycine max) responses to the soybean aphid (Aphis glycines) published in Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions has revealed some of the complex and fascinating interactions between pests and their plant hosts. This recent research led by Dr Gustavo Macintosh and…
Plantwise plant clinic at the Nairobi International Trade Fair
by Kimani Chege and Abigail Rumsey Plant clinics have been running in Kenya since 2010. There are currently 35 clinics throughout Kenya, to which farmers can bring their crops and receive a diagnosis of the pest or disease that is causing them problems. These clinics are organized and run by the Ministry of Agriculture extension…
The Model Plant
Charis Cook works for GARNet, a BBSRC-sponsored network that supports plant scientists in the UK by, among other things, linking researchers to each other and to the research councils, and providing an information hub for plant scientists. GARNet also has its own blog. Before working for GARNet, Charis was at Royal Holloway, University of London,…
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (17 Oct 12)
We’ve selected a few of the latest new geographic, host and species records for plant pests and diseases from CAB Abstracts. Records this fortnight include a new record of the whitefly Acaudaleyrodes rachipora attacking clusterbean in India, detection of algal leaf spot in citrus in Paraná state and a novel mastrevirus infecting wheat in India.
Update: Plant Health News (10 Oct 12)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including snow and frost affecting Brazil’s apple crop, Bangladesh decoding the genome of a crop-killing fungus and ways to keep barley yellow dwarf virus under control. Click on the link to read more of the latest plant health news!
Discovery of genes for resistance to black Sigatoka in bananas
Researchers at Equador’s Biotechnology Research Centre (CIBE) have isolated the genes that are responsible for conferring resistance to black Sigatoka in the naturally resistant banana variety Musa Calcutta-4. Scientists have now been able to develop a protocol for the genetic transformation of banana cultivars Williams and Orito as well as the plantain cultivars Barraganete and…
Cassava virus resistance breakthrough for Africa
One of the worst diseases of the tuber crop, cassava, in sub-Saharan Africa is Cassava brown streak disease (CBSD). Since its resurgence in East Africa in recent years, it is now spreading to Central and Western Africa. The other major disease of cassava in this region, Cassava mosaic disease (CMD), can also cause widespread damage…