Plant Pathology (2016) 65, 1462-1472

M.S. Mullett, K.V. Tubby, J.F. Webber and A.V. Brown (2016)
A reconsideration of natural dispersal distances of the pine pathogen Dothistroma septosporum
Plant Pathology 65 (9), 1462-1472
Abstract: The natural spread of Dothistroma septosporum, the causal agent of a foliar disease of pines, was investigated at three sites in the south of England using trap plants. The pathogen is considered to be primarily rain-splash dispersed, but this study shows that it can be spread many hundreds of metres from an inoculum source, demonstrating that dispersal is not solely via rain splash. The maximum distance the pathogen was recorded from any infection source was in excess of 1400 m, over five times the distance defined in the only previous work of this kind. Consequently, a reassessment of forest and production nursery management practices is called for, as these assume that the pathogen only spreads naturally over limited distances. Detection of the pathogen on trap plants over 100 m from the inoculum source was, in most cases, only possible using quantitative real-time PCR diagnosis. The entire diagnostic procedure, from DNA extraction to amplification, was able to detect a minimum of approximately 17 D. septosporum cells in a pine needle sample, assuming only a moderate DNA extraction efficiency of 30%.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Martin S. Mullett, Joan F. Webber

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
population dynamics/ epidemiology

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Dothistroma septosporum	Pine (Pinus)	United Kingdom