Progress 10/01/06 to 09/30/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Our research on curly top virus focuses on the ecology, epidemiology and management of the disease caused by the virus in chile. We took the first steps to characterize the nature of plant tolerance in peppers and tomatoes against curly top virus infection, showing that they hold a form or field resistance that is due to leafhopper vector non-preference for these hosts. We developed tools to quantify the virus, demonstrating that field resistant plants contain as much virus as susceptible varieties. Our research on fungal endophytes of locoweed has made progress toward characterization of endophytes from locoweeds throughout the western US. We concluded a study that identified new varieties of Undifilum endophytes from Astragalus mollissimus and Astragalus lentiginosus plants. We also localized the endophyte in Oxytropis plants using different types of microscopy. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Understanding more about the ecology, genetics, transmission, and weed hosts of beet curly top virus in New Mexico will aid in developing management options for chile growers. Our predictive model for curly top in southern New Mexico has given growers information on the disease so that they can make informed choices on which management methods they will need to use to handle the disease pressure. The information on virus-tolerant plants provides growers with several pepper types that can be grown without significant disease losses. A better understanding of the role that the fungal endophytes of locoweed play in locoism, the genetics of the fungi, and the factors that influence toxin production will lead to new options to mitigate the disease locoism and its impact. The information generated thus far changed knowledge significantly, in that nothing has been known about the mechanism by which the fungus produces the toxin.
Publications
- Al-Khatib, R., Creamer, R. J., Lartey, R. T., Ghoshroy, S. 2011. Effect of lead (Pb) on the systemic movement of RNA viruses in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum var. Turkish). Plant Cell Reports, 30, 1427-1434.
- Mohseni-Moghadam, M., Cramer, C., Steiner, R. L., Creamer, R. J. 2011. Evaluating winter-sown onion entries for Iris yellow spot virus susceptibility. HortScience, 46, 1224-1229.
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Progress 01/01/10 to 12/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Our research on curly top virus focuses on the ecology, epidemiology and management of the disease caused by the virus in chile. We identified plant tolerance in peppers against curly top virus infection and developed tools to help characterize the nature of tolerance in tomatoes and peppers. Our research on fungal endophytes of locoweed has made progress toward characterization of endophytes from locoweeds throughout the western US. We concluded a study that assessed the effect of deleting a gene suscpected to be in the swainsonine catabolic pathway in Undifilum endophytes. Knockout of saccharopine reductase caused increases in the levels of swainsonine and pipecolic acid, confirming the role of the enzyme in the pathway. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Understanding more about the ecology, genetics, transmission, and weed hosts of beet curly top virus in New Mexico will aid in developing management options for chile growers. Our predictive model for curly top in southern New Mexico has given growers information on the disease so that they can make informed choices on which management methods they will need to use to handle the disease pressure. The information on virus-tolerant plants provides growers with several pepper types that can be grown without significant disease losses. A better understanding of the role that the fungal endophytes of locoweed play in locoism, the genetics of the fungi, and the factors that influence toxin production will lead to new options to mitigate the disease locoism and its impact. The information generated thus far changed knowledge significantly, in that nothing has been known about the mechanism by which the fungus produces the toxin.
Publications
- Mukherjee, S. Dawe, A., and Creamer. R. 2010. Development of a transformation system in the swainsonine producing, slow growing endophytic fungus, Undifilum oxytropis. J. Microbiological Methods 81:160-165.
- Oldrup, E., McLain-Romero, J., Padilla, A., Moya, A., Gardner, D., and Creamer, R. 2010. Localization of endophytic Undifilum fungi in locoweed seed and influence of environmental parameters on a locoweed in vitro culture system. Botany 88:512-521.
- Hudson, A., Richman, D. B., Escobar, I., and Creamer, R. 2010. Comparison of the feeding behavior and genetics of beet leafhopper (Circulifer tenellus, Baker) populations from California and New Mexico. Southwestern Entomologist 35(3):241-150 .
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Progress 01/01/09 to 12/31/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Our research on curly top virus focuses on the ecology, epidemiology and management of the disease caused by the virus in chile. We made progress toward identification of plant tolerance in peppers against curly top virus infection and understanding the nature of tolerance in tomatoes. Our research on fungal endophytes of locoweed has made progress toward characterization of endophytes from locoweeds throughout the western US and concluded a study that established the amount of endophyte and swainonine toxin in in vitro and field grown plants. We also developed a fungal transformation system which will allow us to genetically manipulate the Undifilum endophytes. We also concluded a project studying the effects of lead on plant growth and viral movement. Low concentrations of lead did not harm tobacco plants, while higher concentrations of lead caused reduction in plant size, disrupted chloroplasts, and sequestration of lead in roots. Non-toxic concentrations of lead prevented movement of tobacco vein clearing virus, a tobamovirus, but not another tobamovirus, tobacco mosaic virus. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Understanding more about the ecology, genetics, transmission, and weed hosts of beet curly top virus in New Mexico will aid in developing management options for chile growers. Our predictive model for curly top in southern New Mexico has given growers information on the disease so that they can make informed choices on which management methods they will need to use to handle the disease pressure. The information on virus-resistant plants provides growers with several pepper types that can be grown without significant disease losses. A better understanding of the role that the fungal endophytes of locoweed play in locoism, the genetics of the fungi, and the factors that influence toxin production will lead to new options to mitigate the disease locoism and its impact. The information generated thus far changed knowledge significantly, in that fungal endophytes had not previously been known to be involved in locoism, much less responsible for the problem.
Publications
- Pryor, B. M., Creamer, R., Shoemaker, R. A., McLain-Romero, J., and Hambleton, S. 2009. Undifilum, a new genus for enophytic Embellisia oxytropis and parasitic Helminthosporium bornmuelleri on legumes. Botany 87:178-194.
- Lam, N., Creamer, R., Rascon, J., and Belfon, R. 2009. Characterization of a new curtovirus, Pepper yellow dwarf virus, from chile pepper and distribution in weed hosts in New Mexico. Archives of Virology 154:429-436.
- Stafford, C. A., Walker, G. P., Creamer, R. 2009. Stylet penetration behaviou resulting in inoculation of beet severe curly top virus by beet leafhopper, Circulifer tenellus. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 130:130-137.
- Pitzer, J. B., Byford, R. L., Vuong, H. B., Steiner, R. L., Creamer, R., and Caccamise, D. F. 2009. Potential vectors of West Nile Virus in a semiarid environment: Dona Ana County, New Mexico. J. Med. Entomol. 46:1474-1482.
- Multani, P. S., Cramer, C. S., Steiner, R. L., and Creamer, R. 2009. Screening winter-sown onion entries for iris yellow spot virus tolerance. HortScience 44:627-632
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Progress 01/01/08 to 12/31/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Our research on curly top virus focuses on the ecology, epidemiology and management of the disease caused by the virus in chile. We have identified and characterized a new curtovirus, Pepper yellow dwarf virus, from collected from pepper in New Mexico. We demonstrated the presence of the virus in weeds over a 5 year period. We also made progress toward identification of plant tolerance in peppers against curly top virus infection and understanding the nature of tolerance in tomatoes. Our research on fungal endophytes of locoweed has made progress toward characterization of endophytes from locoweeds throughout the western US and concluded a study which establishes a new genus, Undifilum for the fungal endopytes of locoweed. We also made progress toward methods to identify endophytes and quantify the amount of endophyte in infected plants. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Understanding more about the ecology, genetics, transmission, and weed hosts of beet curly top virus in New Mexico will aid in developing management options for chile growers. Our predictive model for curly top in southern New Mexico has given growers information on the disease so that they can make informed choices on which management methods they will need to use to handle the disease pressure. A better understanding of the role that the fungal endophytes of locoweed play in locoism, the genetics of the fungi, and the factors that influence toxin production will lead to new options to mitigate the disease locoism and its impact. The information generated thus far changed knowledge significantly, in that fungal endophytes had not previously been known to be involved in locoism, much less responsible for the problem.
Publications
- Ralphs, M. H., Creamer, R., Baucom, D., Gardner, D. R., Welsh, S. L., Graham, J. D., Hart, C., Cook, D., and Stegelmeier, B. L. 2008. Relationship between the endophyte Embellisia spp. and the toxic alkaloid swainsonsine in major locoweed species (Astragalus and Oxytropis). Journal Chemical Ecology 34:32-38.
- Valle, R. Aguilar, M. M, and Creamer, R. 2008. First Report of beet mild curly top virus infection of chile pepper in north central Mexico. Plant Disease 92:650.
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Progress 01/01/07 to 12/31/07
Outputs
Our research on curly top virus focuses on the ecology, epidemiology and management of the disease caused by the virus in chile. We have worked toward identifying variability in virus isolates from New Mexico and Mexico from infected chile and weeds. We made progress toward identification of plant tolerance in peppers toward curly top virus infection and understanding the nature of tolerance in tomatoes. Our research on fungal endophytes of locoweed has made significant progress toward identification of endophytes from locoweeds throughout the western US and including a variety of locoweed species which had not been previously studied. We also made progress toward methods to identify endophytes and quantify the amount of endophyte in infected plants.
Impacts
Understanding more about the ecology, genetics, transmission, and weed hosts of beet curly top virus in New Mexico will aid in developing management options for chile growers. Our predictive model for curly top in southern New Mexico has given growers information on the disease so that they can make informed choices on which management methods they will need to use to handle the disease pressure. A better understanding of the role that the fungal endophytes of locoweed play in locoism, the genetics of the fungi, and the factors that influence toxin production will lead to new options to mitigate the disease locoism and its impact. The information generated thus far changed knowledge significantly, in that fungal endophytes had not previously been known to be involved in locoism, much less responsible for the problem.
Publications
- Creamer, R., Mclain,-Romero, J., and E. Oldrup. 2007. Fungal Endophytes of Locoweed: an Overview. Pages 338-344 in: Poisonous Plants: Global Research and Solutions. K.E. Panter, T. L. Wierenga, and J. A. Pfister, eds. CABI Publishing, Oxfordshire, UK.
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Progress 01/01/06 to 12/31/06
Outputs
Our research on curly top virus focuses on the ecology, epidemiology and predictive management of the disease caused by the virus in chile. We have worked toward a model for predicting disease based on fall precipitation. We had previously shown that the winter annual mustard weed, London rocket, plays an important role in providing a source of virus and a potential home for leafhopper vectors. We also found that precipitation influences the growth and survival of the weed host. We assessed vector leafhopper populations throughout the year at multiple locations. In our studies of fungal endophyte-locoweed interactions, we identified similar fungi from other continents and have shown that some locoweeds have very low toxicity.
Impacts
Understanding more about the ecology, genetics, transmission, and weed hosts of beet curly top virus in New Mexico will aid in developing management options for chile growers. A better understanding of the role that the fungal endophytes of locoweed play in locoism, the genetics of the fungi, and the factors that influence toxin production will lead to new options to mitigate the disease locoism and its impact.
Publications
- Ray, J., Schroeder, J., Creamer, R, and Murray, L. 2006. Planting date affects phenology of London rocket (Sisymbrium irio) and interaction with beet leafhopper (Circulifer tenellus) in southern New Mexico. Weed Science 53: 54:127-132.
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