Research Teams and Scientists Working to Stem Ash Dieback Fungus
Researchers are working towards developing a cost effective solution to controlling  Ash Dieback fungal disease, a major threat to 80 million ash trees in the UK. As part of the plan to tackle Ash Dieback and other invasive pests and diseases, the government has formulated a team of ten internationally recognised experts in plant health, forestry and…
Update: Plant Health News (07 Nov 12)
Here’s a taste of some of the latest stories about plant health, including a breakthrough in developing salt-tolerant crops, biocontrol of apple pests and aphid resistance found in black raspberry. Click on the link to read more of the latest plant health news!
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…
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!
Update: New Pest & Disease Records (03 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 the first report of Tomato mosaic virus in eggplant in Iran, Brazilian ground pearl damaging blackberry, raspberry and blueberry in Brazil,  and the first report of Ascochyta rabiei causing ascochyta blight of chickpea…
Sweet Like Chocolate: Breeding Programs Combating Fungal Diseases of Cocoa in Ecuador
Cocoa, Theobroma cacao L. is the third most important export product in Ecuador; a country which produces 70% of the world’s highly prized Arriba cocoa. However, the sustainability of this crop is threatened by a number of devastating pest species including fungal diseases and insect pests. Among the most severe are the closely related fungal diseases…