Sudden death of oak trees due to pathogen Phytophthora ramorumis one of the most ecologically devastating forest diseases in North America, causing the deaths of millions of oak and tanager trees along the coast.
Is science the savior? After the success of genetically modified organisms such as insulin and food, the recent trend is Genetically rescued organismsThese GROs use science to create natural, vaccine-like resistance in plants to mitigate the effects of shifts in species composition, released carbon pools, and increased fire risk caused by mortality.
Before that happens, scientists Phytophthora ramorumIncluding the good and bad spore formation on common plants,
Image by s_s_s_1121
Scientists at the University of California, Davis To investigate the sporulation ability of this pathogen on common plant species in CaliforniaThe researchers collected leaves from 13 common plant host species in the Big Sur region and inoculated them with the pathogen. They found that while most species produced spores, bay laurel and tanoak produced significantly more sporangia than the other species. They also found an inconsistent relationship between sporulation and lesion size, indicating that visual symptoms are not a reliable indicator of potential sporulation.
“Our study is the first to investigate sporulation capacity in a wide range of native plant species widespread along the California coast, with a sufficient sample size to allow statistical differentiation between species,” explains lead author Lisa Rosenthal, PhD. “This study largely confirms previous reports from observational field studies that tanoak and bay laurel are the primary causes of sudden oak death infection, but also shows that many other hosts are capable of producing spores.”
Citation: Lisa M. Rosenthal, Sebastian N. Fajardo, David M. Rizzo, Sporulation ability Phytophthora ramorum Differences in Common Plant Species in California in the Big Sur RegionPlant Diseases August 17, 2021 https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-03-20-0485-RE
