Kernel weight reduction was a better estimator of the presence of deoxynivalenol in the kernels than the area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) Vorinostat mouse calculated with severity ratings. The amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) technique was used to establish genetic relationships between 18 Argentinean isolates and eight reference strains of the Fusarium graminearum complex. All the isolates studied grouped with the two F. graminearum s. str. reference isolates, with a similarity coefficient greater than 75%. The other reference strains of the F. graminearum complex were clearly separated, with similarities ranging between 55 and

73%. The AFLP groups had no relationship with toxin accumulation on kernels or with the geographical origin of the isolates. Great heterogeneity was found in the AUDPC, yield reduction and toxin accumulation values across the regions. “
“The occurrence of geranium rust (caused by Puccinia pelargonii-zonalis) in commercial greenhouses can result in unmarketable

plants and significant economic losses. Currently, detection of geranium rust relies solely on scouting for symptoms and signs of the disease. The purpose of this research was to develop a rapid detection assay for P. pelargonii-zonalis-infected tissues or urediniospores on greenhouse-grown geraniums. Two oligonucleotide primers were designed based on internal transcribed spacer sequence data from three isolates of P. pelargonii-zonalis. The primers amplified a 131-bp product from genomic DNA from each isolate of P. pelargonii-zonalis but did not amplify a product Stem Cell Compound Library clinical trial from genomic DNA from twelve other rust fungi or four other plant pathogenic fungi. A PCR product was amplified consistently from solutions that contained 1 ng or 100 pg/ml of purified P. pelargonii-zonalis DNA in conventional PCR and at 1 pg/ml using real-time PCR. The detection threshold was 102 urediniospores/ml for real-time PCR and 104 urediniospores/ml MCE for conventional PCR using urediniospores collected by vacuum from sporulating lesions. Puccinia pelargonii-zonalis DNA was amplified by real-time PCR from urediniospores

washed from a single inoculated leaf, but recovered urediniospores were below detection threshold from one inoculated leaf with 5, 10, 25 and 50 non-inoculated leaves. Conventional and real-time PCR did not detect P. pelargonii-zonalis in infected leaf tissues, presumably due to PCR inhibitors in the geranium leaf tissue. The inhibition of both conventional and real-time PCR by geranium tissues suggests that a detection assay focusing on urediniospore recovery and microscopic examination with subsequent species verification by PCR may be the most efficient method for assessing the presence of geranium rust in greenhouses. “
“Eighteen melon cultivars were screened for resistance to Monosporascus cannonballus under greenhouse conditions.