Online Tool to Capture the Impact of What We Do as Plant

www.apsnet.org
February 2015 • Volume 49 • Number 2
Plant Pathology at the Crossroads of Science
Rick Bennett, APS President, rbennett@uark.edu
One of the great
privileges of serving
as APS president is
selecting a theme for
the upcoming year
and annual meeting.
It’s a daunting task
and never taken
lightly by those in the
presidential team. The
theme should establish the tone for the society
during the entire year and set the stage for
the annual meeting program and plenary
session. It should reflect our society’s vision
and composite goals and include the many
volunteers who have given immeasurable time
and effort to ensure APS remains relevant to
our members.
As APS president, I have the privilege of
selecting the theme for the 2015 APS Annual
Meeting in Pasadena, CA, “Crossroads in
Science.” The theme was selected because
it reflects the unique position that our
discipline holds within the broad field of
the plant sciences. We are at the interface
among microbiologists, agronomists,
biochemists, geneticists, and the worldwide
community of plant scientists in our attempts
to better understand the complexity of
interrelationships among and between
organisms. With Crossroads in Science as our
theme, I want to provide a brief update on
some of the issues that council will address this
year and a prelude to our 2015 APS Annual
Meeting.
In October, APS Council framed our
agenda for the upcoming year and established
our strategic focus areas to align the efforts
of our offices, boards, and subject matter
committees. Our agenda will focus on big
strategic issues affecting all members and
our profession. Throughout the year, APS
Online Tool to Capture the Impact of
What We Do as Plant Pathologists
Eric C. Tedford, eric.tedford@syngenta.com; Mary Palm, mary.palm@aphis.usda.gov; Lindsey du
Toit, dutoit@wsu.edu; Jeff Jones, jbjones@ufl.edu, APS Councilors-at-Large
For some time now you have heard APS Council talking about the importance of documenting
the impacts of what we do as plant pathologists. You have also heard from APS Internal
Communications Officer David Gadoury that “there is little to be gained by our profession in
remaining a well-kept secret.” Most of us are aware of such impacts in our areas of expertise,
but often members need examples to use for a specific audience. Therefore, the councilorsat-large have been working diligently with APS staff to create an online tool that will help us
capture impact statements from members of APS. The intent is to document the value of our
contributions in research, teaching, and extension in a manner that increases our visibility
publicly.
The tool is intended to be efficient to use and accessible to all members of APS to populate
according to their areas of expertise. Submitted impact statements will ultimately provide an
abundant catalogue of success stories. Examples can then be accessed by membership to fit the
intended audience, be it in justifying additional funding for research, increasing public awareness
of plant pathology, and/or enticing more students to join our discipline. We encourage you as
individuals or as a committee to take advantage of this tool and help us document what our
profession provides to the world. You can submit an impact statement at www.apsnet.org/
members/impactstatements. We also welcome feedback on how to improve this tool to
effectively represent the wide diversity of specialties and members within plant pathology. Please
send your ideas to Eric Tedford (eric.tedford@syngenta.com). n
Council will keep an eye to the future of
plant pathology by focusing on our early
career professionals, international society
engagements, and enhancing our industry
relations. To keep this momentum, council
and APS Headquarters staff will reinforce
our culture of innovation by maintaining
and encouraging submissions from the
membership for new investments via our
“ideas and innovation” process (www.apsnet.
org/members/Pages/IdeasInnovation.aspx).
Staff monitors ideas from members and brings
these to the direct attention of council, who
tracks and prioritizes all suggestions. This
pipeline for ideas greatly facilitates council’s
ability to quickly decide where to invest
valuable financial resources and volunteer time
for the benefit of our society. New products
and services, such as our mobile apps, e-books,
online image database, and mobile journal
options, are just a few of the results of this
member-driven, investment-focused effort.
These new products and services will hopefully
improve our cross communication within APS
and enhance our ability to communicate the
value of plant pathology to outside groups.
This year, we will also work diligently and
carefully to modernize our APS journals
through a new strategy to meet the challenges
of publishing in the electronic age. Our
members continue to bring some of the best
science in plant health to the pages of our APS
journals and it is critical for the future health
Crossroads continued on page 19
In this Issue
Editor’s Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
APS Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Public Policy Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Calendar of Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Phytopathology News 17
www.apsnet.org
Editor-in-Chief: Doug Jardine
Managing Editor: Michelle Bjerkness
Editor: Amanda Baumann
Design: Dawn Mathers
Advertising Sales: Rhonda Wilkie
Phytopathology News (ISSN 0278-0267) is published eleven times per
year by The American Phytopathological Society (APS) at 3340 Pilot
Knob Road, St. Paul, MN 55121 U.S.A. Phone: +1.651.454.7250,
Fax: +1.651.454.0766, E-mail: aps@scisoc.org, Web: www.apsnet.org.
Phytopathology News is distributed to all APS members. Subscription
price to nonmembers is $88 U.S./$104 Elsewhere. Periodicals paid
at St. Paul, MN. CPC Intl Pub Mail #0969249. Postmaster: Send
address changes to Phytopathology News, 3340 Pilot Knob Road, St.
Paul, MN 55121 U.S.A.
Submission Guidelines
Address all editorial correspondence to: Doug Jardine, Department of
Plant Pathology, 4024 Throckmorton Hall, Kansas State University,
Manhattan, KS, 66506-5502 U.S.A. Phone: +1.785.532.1386; Fax:
+1.785.532.5692; E-mail: PhytoNewsEditor@scisoc.org. In order to
ensure timely publication of your news items and announcements,
please send in material six weeks prior to the date of publication.
Material should be no more than six months old when submitted.
Submission of materials as electronic files, via e-mail, will speed
processing. For information on submitting electronic images contact
Amanda Baumann at amanda@scisoc.org. Deadline for submitting
items for the April 2015 issue is February 15, 2015.
APS Leadership
Council
President: A. Rick Bennett
President-Elect: Sally A. Miller
Vice President: Timothy D. Murray
Immediate Past President: George S. Abawi
Internal Communications Officer: David M. Gadoury
Treasurer: Steven A. Slack
Senior Councilor-at-Large: Mary E. Palm
Councilor-at-Large: Eric C. Tedford
Councilor-at-Large: Lindsey J. du Toit
Divisional Councilor: Lawrence E. Datnoff
Publications Councilor: Niklaus Grunwald
Executive Vice President: Amy L. Hope
Editors-in-Chief
APS PRESS: Timothy C. Paulitz
MPMI: Jane Glazebrook
Phytopathology: Krishna Subbarao
Phytopathology News: Doug J. Jardine
Plant Disease: Mark L. Gleason
Plant Disease Management Reports: Kenneth W. Seebold
Plant Health Progress: Pamela Roberts
The Plant Health Instructor: Katherine L. Stevenson
Plant Management Network: Cristi Palmer
Board and Office Chairs and Directors
Academic Unit Leader Forum Chair: James R. Bradeen
APS Foundation Chair: Ray D. Martyn
Divisional Forum Chair: Jay W. Pscheidt
PPB Chair: Jan E. Leach
Publications Board Chair: Niklaus Grunwald
OE Director: Tom Mitchell
OIP Director: Marcial A. Pastor-Corrales
OPSR Director: Courtney A. Gallup
OPRO Director: Monica L. Elliott
AMB Director: Amy O. Charkowski
Division Officers
Caribbean
Divisional Forum Rep.: Ronald French-Monar
President: Hilda Victoria Silva-Rojas
Secretary-Treasurer: 
Consuelo Estevez De Jensen
North Central
Divisional Forum Rep.: Amanda Gevens
President: George Sundin
Secretary-Treasurer: Kiersten Wise
Northeastern
Divisional Forum Rep.: David Rosenberger
President: Francis Ferrandino
Vice President: Steven Johnson
Secretary-Treasurer: Margaret McGrath
Pacific
Divisional Forum Rep.: Jay Pscheidt
President: Juliet Marshall
President-Elect: David Gent
Secretary-Treasurer: Soumaila Sanogo
Potomac
Divisional Forum Rep.: Yilmaz Balci
President: Nicole Donofrio
Vice President: Jo Anne Crouch
Secretary-Treasurer: Mizuho Nita
Southern
Divisional Forum Rep.: Kenneth Seebold
President: 
Thomas Allen
President-Elect: Nicole Ward-Gauthier
Vice President: Kevin Ong
Secretary-Treasurer: Gary E. Vallad
18 February 2015
Editor’s Corner
Land-Grant Bragging Rights—Who
Was First?
Doug Jardine, Kansas State University, PhytoNewsEditor@scisoc.org
Most plant pathology departments in the country are aligned with
public land-grant universities; Cornell University being the exception in
that it is a private land-grant university. One thing that always amuses
me is how many different universities claim to be the first land-grant
university.
My institution, Kansas State University (KSU), claims to be the first
land-grant institution but so does Iowa State University (ISU). My alma
mater, Michigan State University (MSU), bills itself as the pioneer landgrant college, implying it was first without actually saying it. So, who’s
right? Well a little research shows that it’s all a matter of perspective.
There are actually five land-grant universities that were originally chartered in the 1700s,
the oldest being the University of Delaware (UD), chartered in 1743 by Francis Alison, a
Presbyterian minister. It was opened as a “Free School” in New London, PA (Delaware was part
of the Pennsylvania colony until 1776). After several name and location changes, it became
Delaware College in 1843. It was closed from 1859 until 1870, when it reopened with support
from the Morrill Land-Grant Act as the land-grant University of Delaware. Other schools
with 18th century charter dates include Rutgers (1766), Georgia (1785), Vermont (1791), and
Tennessee (1794). Rutgers was originally chartered as Queens College, and Tennessee as Blount
College. Vermont was private at first, merging
with Vermont Agricultural College in 1865.
Georgia might have laid claim to the designation
of being first, but it was closed from 1863 to1866
due to the Civil War. Tennessee might have been
first, but since it was a confederate state, it was
not eligible at the time of the act. It took a special
act of Congress in 1867 to make the University
of Tennessee eligible and it was designated a landgrant in 1869.
Other institutions whose official charter dates pre-date the Morrill Act include the University
of Missouri (MU) (1839), MSU and The Pennsylvania State University (PSU) (1855), and
ISU (1858). MU was the first public university west of the Mississippi River; however, it was
not awarded land-grant status until 1870. MSU was founded on February 12, 1855, as the
Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, thus making it the first college in the United States
whose primary purpose was to teach agriculture. As such, it served as a model for future land-grant
colleges in the country created after passage of the Morrill Act.
The Pennsylvania State University (PSU) was chartered on February 22, 1855, as the
Farmers’ High School of Pennsylvania and its name was changed to the Agricultural College of
Pennsylvania in 1862. It was officially designated the state’s land-grant college in 1863. Thus, it
lost out to being the “Pioneer” land-grant college that MSU claims to be by a mere 10 days.
Founded in 1858, ISU became the nation’s first designated land-grant institution when, 71
days after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Act into law, the Iowa Legislature
accepted the provisions of the 1862 Morrill Act on September 11, 1862, making Iowa the first state
in the nation to do so.
KSU, originally named Kansas State Agricultural College, was founded in Manhattan on
February 16, 1863. As such, it was the first university created anew as a result of the Morrill Act.
So who was first, UD, MSU, ISU, or KSU? It all depends on the measuring stick. If we use
the thought stream from the closing court arguments from the 1947 movie Miracle on 34th
Street about whether there is a Santa Claus, whereby the character Kris Kringle is deemed to be
recognized as the Santa Claus by the U.S. Post Office, an official branch of the U.S.
government, then we may have to go with a tie between MSU and PSU as the accompanying
U.S. postage stamp would suggest. Sticking up for my employer, KSU, it was
the first school not in existence at the time of the Morrill Act to be created specifically due
to the legislation, so from my perspective, I guess I can say, “We’re Number One.” Those
with opposing points of view are welcome to write rebuttals and submit them as a Letter to
the Editor. n
APS Plant Path Video
Reaches 14k Hits!
Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena, CA, photo courtesy of Pasadena Convention and Visitors Bureau,
Jamie Pham
Submit Your Best Research and
Broaden Your Network in Pasadena
APS Annual Meeting Call for Abstracts through March 16, 2015
The 2015 APS Annual Meeting Call for
Abstracts is open from February 2 through
March 16, 2015. You are invited to submit
an abstract for consideration as an oral
technical or poster presenter. Why submit an
abstract this year? As a presenter, you have an
automatic conversation starter and scheduled
opportunities to meet fellow attendees.
Participation at this level is the easiest way
to meet others looking to build partnerships,
share critical research, and offer proven
solutions. Be part of the meeting this year!
The annual meeting website (www.apsnet.
org/meet) includes the criteria for acceptance,
submission instructions, and guidelines
for creating PowerPoint presentations and
scientific posters. Submit early! The number
of oral presentation opportunities is limited.
Field trips and workshops have been
recently added to the website. Look for
descriptions and organizers for these
informative events.
Field Trips
• Citrus Facilities Near Riverside, CA, and
Their Role in Combating Huanglongbing
• Diseases of Small and Tree Fruits—two
days
• Ornamental Field Trip
• Southern California Forest Health Issues:
Drought, Forest Insects, and Diseases
The APS video—“Plant Pathology: Taking
You Further than You Ever Imagined”—has
reached more than 14,000 views! The nowviral video asks: “How will we sustainably
increase our food, fiber, and fuels using less
land and resources?”
The answer: healthy plants.
This entertaining, colorful, and highly
informative video can be used as a helpful
resource to illustrate what we do as plant
pathologists and why this work is so important
now and in the future.
If you haven’t watched the video yet, visit
the APS YouTube channel at www.youtube.
com/watch?v=mzTE3StOHlQ and share it via
social media! n
Workshops
• Agriculture Counts: Real World Statistics
USDA National Agricultural Statistics
Survey (NASS)
• Analysis of Population Genetic Data in R
• Design and Analysis of RNA-seq
Experiments
• Introduction to Multivariate Statistics in R
• Simulation Modeling in Botanical
Epidemiology and Crop Loss Analysis
• Sustainability, Genetics, and Future
Cultivars n
Crossroads continued from page 17
of our society that we remain competitive for institutional and individual subscriptions in this
changing publication landscape of open access.
Crossroads in Science also includes the Phytobiomes Initiative, which originated as an
advocacy target from the APS Public Policy Board. The goal of this initiative is to inform
federal funding agencies and policy makers that new investments in agricultural research
should be directed at an integrated systems approach to science that focuses on understanding
the influences on plant community compositions and interconnections. As funding agencies
seek more multidisciplinary research endeavors, APS stands to benefit by encompassing the
breadth of expertise within our membership from applied outreach and extension to basic
translational approaches that will inform and guide efforts in new interdisciplinary sciences.
One of council’s actions that I’m most excited about in support of the Phytobiomes Initiative
is our new fellowship with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).
This fellowship, supported in part by APS Council and an APS Foundation public policy
endowment, will provide the executive branch of government with accurate scientific and
technical advice on issues affecting our discipline to ensure that policies are based on sound
scientific principles.
In closing, I want to thank our APS members and volunteers who have selflessly committed
their support and enthusiasm throughout the year. APS continues to be a healthy, financially
secure society through the efforts of our members and the exceptional staff at APS Headquarters. I am truly fortunate and honored to serve APS as its president this year. I look forward to
seeing you in Pasadena in August for the 2015 APS Annual Meeting, Crossroads in Science. n
Last Call for
the StorkanHanes-McCaslin
Foundation Awards
The Storkan-Hanes-McCaslin Foundation
was established in 1987 to support graduate
student research. In addition to unrestricted
cash awards (which range from $5,000 to
$10,000 and can be used for any purpose
that will benefit the education of the student,
including personal expenses), new awardees
will also receive round-trip fares to the APS
Annual Meeting and are presented their
awards at a luncheon attended by their
research advisors, previous awardees, and
members of the committee. A major aim
of the foundation is to encourage research
by offering financial assistance to graduate
students who are working on soilborne diseases
of plants. To be considered for funding, each
proposal should be carefully prepared in
accordance with the instructions printed in the
December 2014 issue of Phytopathology News
and submitted electronically no later than May
1, 2015, to Michael Stanghellini (michael.
stanghellini@ucr.edu). n
Phytopathology News 19
APS PRESS Brings New
Energy to the Fight
Against Coffee Leaf
Rust, Other Pests
Coffee compendium now on sale, available
for bulk purchase
Coffee leaf rust, insect and worm pests, and a host
of disorders have devastated coffee crops in recent
years. Coffee leaf rust alone has caused more than
$1 billion in crop damage since 2012. This damage
has had a major impact on both growers and
consumers. The world’s most widely
traded agricultural commodity has
become more scarce and expensive
than ever, and it’s mainly due to
diseases, insects, mites, nematodes,
and other disorders.
APS PRESS is proud to
announce a new shot of energy in
the fight against these pests—the
Compendium of Coffee Diseases
and Pests. This vital reference
summarizes the current
understanding of diseases
and pests affecting coffee
plantations worldwide, making it a
vital resource to plant pathologists, extension
personnel, growers, educators, students, regulatory agents, and
other practitioners involved in the diagnosis and management of
coffee pests.
The Compendium of Coffee Diseases and Pests can help the
international coffee community diagnose and manage nearly 50
diseases, pests, and disorders of coffee plants. This easy-to-use
book also provides guidance on minimizing susceptibility to plant
damage, as well as strategies for management.
The compendium specifically covers infectious diseases caused
by viruses, phytoplasmas, bacteria, fungi, and nematodes, as well
as an alga. It also covers nutritional deficiencies and physiological
disorders that may be mistaken for plant diseases. The book also
contains more than 100 colorful, high-quality, and representative
images to guide users toward an accurate diagnosis.
The book’s editors, Alvaro L. Gaitán, Marco A. Cristancho,
Bertha L. Castro Caicedo, Carlos A. Rivillas, and Gabriel
Cadena Gómez from Centro Nacional de Investigaciones
de Café (Cenicafé) are among the top plant pathologists and
entomologists studying coffee today. They bring together coffee
researchers from around the world with decades of experience.
For a limited time, readers can purchase the Compendium of
Coffee Diseases and Pests for just $99, $20 off the cover price.
Bulk discounts are also available for easy distribution to
growers, extension groups, coffee production and industry
professionals, and academic institutions. Ten-book bundles are
just $89 per book, a savings of $30; 50-book bundles can be
purchased for just $79 per book; and a 100-book bundle offers
the most savings, at a cost of $79 per book, which is $40 off the
cover price. n
20 February 2015
Mississippi Association
of Plant Pathologists and
Nematologists Meet with the
Mississippi Entomological
Association in Starkville, MS
The annual meeting of the Mississippi Association of Plant Pathologists
and Nematologists (MAPPAN) was held October 21, 2014, at the
Bost Extension Center on the campus of Mississippi State University in
Starkville, MS. The meeting was held in conjunction with the Mississippi
Entomological Association (MEA) for the third consecutive year. This
year, 20 people attended the meeting, representing Mississippi State
University, USDA, and industry.
A graduate student paper competition was presided over by Maria
Tomaso-Peterson. Six graduate students participated in the competition,
representing plant pathology and biological sciences. Phillip Vines
(advisor, Tomaso-Peterson) won first place for his presentation “Discovery
of Six New Species in Magnaporthaceae from Ultradwarf Bermudagrass
Roots Collected throughout the Southern United States.” Jeff Standish
(advisors, Tomaso-Peterson and Tom Allen) won second place for his
presentation “Distribution of the QoI Resistant Frogeye Leaf Spot
Pathogen throughout the Mississippi Soybean Production System” and
Tessie Wilkerson (advisor, Allen) won third place for her presentation
“Secondary Nutrient Effects on Suppression of Macrophomina phaseolina
Infection in Soybean.”
As a part of the annual meeting, a scholarship is awarded in honor
of Frank Killebrew, an exceptional extension plant pathologist that
passed away unexpectedly in 1999. This year’s award was bestowed
upon Standish, an M.S. student in plant pathology working under the
guidance of Tomaso-Peterson and Allen on fungicide resistance within
the Mississippi soybean production system.
The officers for MAPPAN for 2014–2015 are Alvin Rhodes, BASF—
president; Sead (Sejo) Sabanadzovic, MSU—vice president; Clarissa
Balbalian, plant disease diagnostician, MSU—treasurer; and Tessie
Wilkerson—graduate student representative.
The next meeting of MAPPAN will be held in conjunction with MEA
in Starkville, MS, October 20–21, 2015, at the Bost Extension Center. n
Student award winners are left to right: Phillip Vines, first place; Jeff
Standish, second place; MAPPAN President Tom Allen; and Tessie
Wilkerson, third place.
New PMN Webcast Collection Shows How to Manage
Western Corn Rootworm in the Transgenic Era
Freely available 24/7 on the Plant Management Network
Since its commercialization in 2003, Bt corn
has—and still is—proving to be an important
technology for the control of insect pests,
higher yield production, and higher quality
grain. In recent years, however, the western
corn rootworm’s increasing resistance to Bt
corn has caused some alarm.
To help U.S. corn growers and consultants
tackle this growing issue, Robert Wright,
research and extension entomologist at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, organized a
seminar comprising five webcast presentations
that focus on the many new and changing
aspects of western corn rootworm (WCR)
management in the transgenic era. This
seminar, entitled “Corn Rootworm in the
Transgenic Era” can be found in the Plant
Management Network’s Focus on Corn
resource at www.plantmanagementnetwork.
org/foc. All five talks are freely available 24/7
to corn producers, consultants, extension
agents, and other practitioners involved with
Bt corn and the management of western corn
rootworm. These presentations, produced with
funding from the USDA’s National Institute of
Food and Agriculture, include the following:
• Resistance Evolution and Insecticide
Resistance Management (IRM) for
Rootworm by Aaron Gassmann, Iowa
State University. This talk reviews current
developments of Bt resistance in the field
and what is known about the consequences
of resistance for feeding injury and pest
survival during future growing seasons.
Gassmann also covers approaches for
managing WCR and the development of Bt
resistance by this pest.
• Adult Corn Rootworm Suppression by
Lance J. Meinke, University of NebraskaLincoln (UNL). This presentation shows
how to incorporate adult WCR control
tactics into a broader corn rootworm
management program. He reviews aspects
of adult WCR biology and ecology—and
provides a general overview of the adult
control strategy, tactics, and critical timing.
• Decision Tree for Grower Management
Options by Ken Ostlie, University of
Minnesota. This webcast addresses the
management challenges posed by resistance,
reviews options, and provides growers, crop
advisors, dealers, consultants, and extension
educators with a framework for making
decisions on corn rootworm management.
It also covers the pros and cons of individual
management options, as well as which
strategies are most effective.
PMN Publishes Webcast Recordings
of 2014 Crop Management Seminar
Seminars and discussions from the biennial Crop Management Seminar (CMS), organized
by Cotton Incorporated and held in Tifton, GA, in November 2014, are now freely available
through the Plant Management Network (PMN). Through these talks, growers and practitioners
in all cotton-growing regions can get a review of the 2014 growing season, as well as keep up on
the latest technologies and best crop management practices. These presentations are fully open
access and available at www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/2014CMS.
PMN’s mission is to enhance the health, management, and production of all crops through
quality, science-based information for practitioners and applied scientists. Help support this
mission by publishing your next seminar or proceedings through PMN. Contact Phil Bogdan
at pbogdan@scisoc.org or +1.651.994.3859 to learn more. n
• Rootworm Biology and Behavior by Joseph
L. Spencer, University of Illinois. This
presentation helps viewers understand the
biology and behavior of corn rootworms,
especially WCR. Spencer focuses on the
details of basic corn rootworm biology,
movement patterns, and the characteristics
of dispersing adults. He also highlights
biological knowledge as one of the keys to
making sound management decisions and
understanding pest resistance.
• Larval Corn Rootworm Management
by Robert Wright, (UNL). Since the
introduction of Bt corn hybrids active
against rootworm, larval control options
and management practices have changed.
This webcast helps growers understand the
most current options for corn rootworm
larvae control, factors affecting their efficacy,
larval rootworm biology, and damage. In
addition to the webcasts, the seminar’s
homepage features articles, as well as a
Bt trait table, that outlines current Bt
proteins, their insect targets or herbicide
activity, trade names, and other important
information to help you make better
management decisions.
To date, PMN has provided web development, webcasting, and other outreach
services for more than one dozen grantfunded projects. Learn how PMN can get
your research in front of both researchers and
practitioners, increasing usage and building
impact for you and your colleagues. Contact
Phil Bogdan at pbogdan@scisoc.org to learn
how PMN can partner with you to provide
effective outreach. n
Phytopathology News 21
APS Foundation
Public Policy Update
Does Your Work Impact the Future of
Nematology?
Want a Better
Understanding of
Phytobiomes?
Apply for travel funds by February 13
Applications for the Faces of the Future Symposium Awards, created
through an endowment established by Milt and Nancy Schroth,
are now being accepted. Four awards are available and will provide
funds of $500 each to the selected presenters to help support their
travel to the 2015 APS Annual Meeting in Pasadena, CA. The
2015 symposium will be entitled “Schroth Faces of the Future:
Nematology.” Speakers will be asked to present their research in a special session where
they will have the opportunity to highlight their current work and speculate on the
future directions of their discipline. In addition, the speakers will have the opportunity
to submit a mini-review to be published as a fully citable feature on the APS website,
where they can highlight their philosophy and the future direction of their discipline.
Applications must include a one-page essay submitted by the nominee addressing
their views on the future of nematology, current CV, abstract of the proposed
presentation, and a letter of nomination by an established scientist. This nomination
letter must include an evaluation of the nominee’s research, including a comment on
the innovation and the impact that research completed by the nominee has on the
discipline and the future of nematology. This letter should be sent by the nominator
directly to Kimberly Cochran (kanncochran@gmail.com). This should not be part of
the single-merged PDF document. Applications should be submitted as a singlemerged PDF document to Cochran via e-mail by 5 p.m. CST on February 13, 2015. n
Online Application for the Student
Travel Awards Opens February 13!
If you are an APS student member giving an oral or poster presentation at the 2015
APS Meeting in Pasadena, CA, you can apply for an APS Student Travel Award to win
$500 toward your travel expenses to this conference.
Awards are available to graduate students in all disciplines of plant pathology. The
APS Student Travel Award program aims to recognize and reward the best, brightest,
and most dedicated students in plant pathology.
The online application process for the 2015 APS Student Travel Awards opens
February 13, 2015, and will close March 20, 2015. Students who received an award in
2014 will not be eligible for an award until 2016. Applications are due by noon CST
on March 20, 2015, and advisor letters are due by noon CST on March 27, 2015.
Applications or advisor letters submitted after the deadline posted will not be accepted;
the deadline is strictly enforced, so please apply early.
Applicants are required to submit a formal abstract for an oral or poster presentation
for the 2015 meeting prior to applying for the travel award. Additionally, you
are required to make the case for a hot topic that you feel should be presented as
a symposium at a future APS meeting. It is recommended that you compose your
responses using word processing software prior to completing the online form. Once
ready, you can copy and paste your materials into the appropriate text box in the online
application. The application requires a letter of recommendation from their current
graduate advisor. Complete details can be found on the application website www.
apsnet.org/members/foundation/apply/Pages/StudentTravelAwards.aspx. n
“It was an honor to receive the APS travel award. As a new student
just beginning my career in plant pathology, receiving the award not
only gave me confidence as I attended the meeting, but made me feel
extremely welcomed and part of the community.”
—Emma Wallace, North Carolina State University
22 February 2015
Check out these recorded
presentations
During the recent APS-CPS Joint
Meeting in Minneapolis, August
2014, the APS Public Policy Board
(PPB) organized an “Understanding Phytobiomes to Improve
Agricultural Productivity” special
session. This unique session featured five experts who
illustrated why funding investments in phytobiome
approaches are critical by highlighting what we have
not been able to learn with individual organisms and
revealing what can be learned when microbiomes are
studied as a system. These fundamental discoveries
can be applied to improve crop productivity, address
environmental challenges, and assure food safety.
PPB has launched the Phytobiomes Initiative to
gain a comprehensive understanding of phytobiomes
and the capacity for their optimization by 2025. This
session was live-streamed during the meeting and a
recording is posted on the APS YouTube Channel at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFKk20PCf6E. Take
some time to check out the following presentations.
• The phyllosphere microbiome: Responses to and
impacts on plants. Julia A. Vorholt, Institute of
Microbiology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
• How do organisms communicate (cross-kingdom
communications) in the phytobiome? Vittorio Venturi, International Center for Genetic
Engineering and Biotechnology, Trieste, Italy
• Separating signal from noise in the design and
analysis of host-microbial communities. Eric W.
Triplett, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
• How do agricultural practices impact the animal
microbiome? Thad Stanton, National Animal
Disease Center, USDA ARS, Ames, IA
• Phytobiome, a new view of crop production- an
industry perspective. Magalie Guilhabert-Goya,
Bayer CropScience LP, Davis, CA n
People
Awards
Raymond W. Schneider,
a professor in the
Department of Plant
Pathology and Crop
Physiology at Louisiana
State University (LSU),
received the Doyle
Chambers Research
Award from the LSU
Agricultural Center on December 15, 2014.
This meritorious award is made annually
to the scientist who, during his/her career
at the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment
Station, has made the most outstanding
contributions to agriculture in the state of
Louisiana. In addition to his other research
accomplishments, Schneider is one of the
world’s leading authorities on diseases of
soybean. His research has vastly and greatly
affected the soybean industry locally,
nationally, and internationally, especially
with his first finding of soybean rust (SBR),
caused by Phakopsora pachyrhizi, in the
United States. This new finding led to a vast
array of research endeavors that included risk
model assessment and spatial analysis of SBR
disease development. In this effort, he and
his students and collaborators developed a
state-of-the-art particulate sampler to better
trap and monitor airborne populations
of P. pachyrhizi as well as improved PCR
detection technologies. His group further
demonstrated that the pathogen had a long
latent period, and fungicide efficacy was
vastly improved with this finding. One of his
students discovered a fungus, Simplicillium
lanosoniveum, that colonized pustules and
infected urediniospores of P. pachyrhizi and, as
a consequence, has great potential for use as a
biological control agent.
Raj Singh, assistant
professor in the
Department of Plant
Pathology and Crop
Physiology at Louisiana
State University (LSU),
received the Floyd S.
Edmiston Extension
Award from the LSU
AgCenter on December 15, 2014. This
meritorious award is made annually to the
extension specialist, who during the past
three years has made the most outstanding
contributions toward improving extension
services and mission while benefitting the
people in the state of Louisiana. Singh was
recognized for his outstanding extension
program that provides accurate and timely
diagnoses of plant diseases and other pests
and educational programs to the agronomic
and horticultural industries and homeowners
of Louisiana. In addition, he provides
diagnostic services in support of the Louisiana
Department of Agriculture and Forestry
and serves as a liaison to the National Plant
Diagnostic Network.
New Positions
Lindsay R. Triplett
joined the Connecticut
Agricultural Experiment
Station’s (CAES’s)
Department of Plant
Pathology and Ecology in
the position of assistant
agricultural scientist in
October. She recently
finished a post-doctoral fellowship at Colorado
State University under the mentorship of Jan
Leach, characterizing molecular factors for
virulence and defense in Xanthomonas oryzae
interactions with rice. Triplett is a graduate of
Earlham College and she completed her Ph.D.
degree in plant pathology at Michigan State
University under the supervision of George
Sundin. She will establish a research program
studying Xanthomonas molecular diversity and
virulence from her laboratory in the newly
renovated Jenkins-Waggoner building at the
CAES New Haven campus.
Quan Zeng joined
the faculty of the
Department of Plant
Pathology and Ecology
at The Connecticut
Agricultural Experiment
in New Haven as
assistant plant pathologist
on November 3, 2014.
He will initiate a research program studying
bacterial diseases of concern for Connecticut
stakeholders, such as fire blight, soft rot,
and bacterial etiolation, from the aspects of
disease mechanisms and novel management
solutions. Zeng was a post-doctoral research
associate in the Department of Plant, Soil,
and Microbial Sciences at Michigan State
University from 2011 to 2014. He worked
with George Sundin in characterization
of the virulence regulation of bacterial
small RNAs in E. amylovora, the fire blight
pathogen. Zeng completed his undergraduate
studies at Nanjing Agricultural University,
Nanjing, China (2006). He earned a Ph.D.
degree (2011) in biological sciences at the
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee under the
supervision of Ching-Hong Yang. The title
of his dissertation was “The study of genetic
regulation of the type III secretion system in
soft rot pathogen Dickeya dadantii.”
Presentations
Hailing Jin, professor of plant pathology
and microbiology, University of California
at Riverside, was visiting Washington State
University on December 3 and 4, 2014. She
was invited by graduate students of molecular
plant sciences and plant pathology, and hosted
by graduate student Nicholas Mueth and Scot
Hulbert. She gave a seminar entitled “Small
RNAs, the secret agents in the battle field
of plant-pathogen interaction.” During her
visit, she also had discussions with graduate
students, post-doctoral associates, and faculty
members. Jin’s research focuses on gene
regulation and signal transduction in plant
immunity.
John Rupe, a professor of plant pathology
at the University of Arkansas, was invited by
Li Guojing, College of Life Sciences, Inner
Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot,
China, to give a series of seminars in October.
The seminars covered soybean seedling disease,
Pythium population structure in Arkansas,
charcoal rot, and soybean seed quality. In
addition, he gave an overview of agriculture in
Arkansas and a seminar on how to succeed in
graduate school in the United States.
Student Awards & Degrees
Anna Conrad was honored with the 2014
C. C. Allison Award by the Department of
Plant Pathology at The Ohio State University.
The award, which includes a plaque and $800
People continued on page 24
Phytopathology News 23
People continued from page 23
for each recipient, recognizes graduate student
excellence in research and exemplary service
to the department. Conrad is pursuing her
Ph.D. degree in plant pathology with advisor
Pierluigi Bonello. Her research focuses on
mechanisms of oak resistance to Phytophthora
ramorum, the causal agent of sudden oak
death, and the development of methods to
predict resistance to this invasive pathogen
within natural populations. Conrad is the
president of the department’s Plant Pathology
Graduate Students Association and was plant
pathology’s representative on the universitywide Council of Graduate Students from
2013 to 2014. Conrad, who holds a B.S.
degree from the State University of New
York, College of Environmental Science
and Forestry, was a selected presenter at the
APS 2014 I. E. Melhus Graduate Student
Symposium and is active in plant pathology
teaching and outreach.
Bhanu Priya Donda was
a Walter J. Clore
Scholarship recipient this
year. The scholarship was
started in 1997 by the
Washington Association
of Wine Grape Growers
to recognize and
honor the research and
lifetime achievements of Walter J. Clore.
Donda is pursuing a Ph.D. degree in plant
pathology with Naidu Rayapati working on
the epidemiology and molecular biology of
Grapevine leafroll associated virus.
Sean W. McCotter recently completed all
requirements for an M.S. degree in plant
pathology from Washington State University
(WSU). His committee consisted of Lori
Carris (major advisor), Dorrie Main, Patricia
Okubara, and Lisa A. Castlebury. His
thesis was entitled “Use of whole genome
Sean McCotter (right) with his major adviser Lori
Carris.
24 February 2015
sequence data to characterize mating and
RNA-silencing genes in Tilletia species.”
McCotter’s research demonstrated similarity
between the bipolar mating system in Tilletia
caries and previously characterized mating
systems in other smut fungi, but also provided
the first evidence for duplication of matingtype homeodomain genes in fungi outside
of subphylum Agaricomycotina. In 2014,
McCotter received the Kenneth F. Baker
and R. James Cook Travel Award to present
a poster on his research at the APS-CPS
Joint Meeting in Minneapolis, MN. After
graduation, he will begin a Ph.D. program
with Jim Kronstad in the Department
of Microbiology and Immunology at the
University of British Columbia, where his
research will focus on identifying sources of
iron in planta for the phytopathogenic smut
fungus Ustilago maydis and comparisons of the
iron uptake mechanisms found in U. maydis
and the related human pathogen Cryptococcus
neoformans.
Rebecca A. Melanson, a Ph.D. candidate
in the Department of Plant Pathology and
Crop Physiology at Louisiana State University
(LSU) and the LSU AgCenter, recently won
the prestigious C. W. Edgerton Award. She
was nominated by her advisor, Jong Hyun
Ham, associate professor. She won this award
for her outstanding academic and professional
achievements, especially her significant
contributions toward our understanding
of bacterial regulatory mechanisms. She
identified ntpR, a new regulatory gene of
major virulence factors, from the plantpathogenic bacterium Burkholderia glumae and
characterized its global regulatory function in
bacterial signaling and pathogenesis. Anna K. Stasko, a plant pathology Ph.D.
student at The Ohio State University, was
awarded a United Soybean Board Graduate
Fellowship at the American Society of
Agronomy’s annual
meeting in Long
Beach, CA, November
2–5. Stasko, who is
studying with Anne E.
Dorrance at the Ohio
Agricultural Research
and Development Center
in Wooster, is studying
mechanisms of partial resistance in soybean
against Phytophthora sojae. Stasko received
a B.A. degree from Concordia College in
Moorhead, MN.
In Memory
Richard (Dick) H.
Converse died peacefully
surrounded by family
members on Tuesday,
May 6, 2014, at his home
in Corvallis, OR. Born
on September 18, 1925,
in Greenwich, CT, Dick
lived his early childhood
years in Japan, where his parents, Guy and
Berthae Converse, worked for the YMCA.
After his father’s death in 1930, Dick and his
mother left Japan to live in New York City;
Tucson, AZ; and Whittier, CA. He moved to
Berkeley, CA, to pursue a bachelor’s degree
in plant pathology and there met Leona
Reukema, who was to be his wife of 66 years.
He completed his B.S. degree in 1947 at the
University of California (UC) at Berkeley, an
M.Sc. degree in agronomy at UC Davis in
1948, and a Ph.D. degree in plant pathology
at UC Davis in 1951.
After completing his Ph.D. degree, Dick
and Leona loaded their 1937 Packard and
headed to South Dakota State University in
Brookings, where Dick taught plant pathology
and worked on diseases of sorghum for
two years. He then joined the USDA ARS,
working first at Oklahoma State University
in Stillwater, moving to Beltsville, MD, in
1957, and then to Corvallis, OR, in 1967,
where he remained until he retired in 1990. In
Corvallis, Dick was an active member of the
Department of Botany and Plant Pathology
at Oregon State University, where he held the
position of professor (courtesy).
Dick is best known for his contributions
to the detection and management of virus
diseases of small fruits and his early work
on Phytophthora species that cause root rot
diseases in strawberry and raspberry. With
collaborators, he unraveled the complex
etiology of a number of virus diseases of
strawberry and raspberry in Maryland, the
Pacific Northwest, Japan, Israel, and Costa
Rica. He established a clean plant program
for berries in Corvallis and worked with the
Oregon and Washington State Departments of
Agriculture to develop certification programs
for berry crops. The production of certified
nursery stock of strawberry, raspberry,
blackberry, and blueberry has been invaluable
to the small fruit industry in the Pacific
Northwest and beyond. The success of this
certification program for berry crops, along
with similar programs for other vegetatively
propagated crops, served as the basis for the
development of the National Clean Plant
Network, which now provides a level of
stable funding for certification programs
nationwide. Over the years, he trained many
graduate students and post-doctoral associates
and hosted numerous visiting scientists,
all of whom benefited from his infectious
enthusiasm for research. His work took him
and Leona to many countries, and they made
many friends around the world over the years.
He was an editor and major contributor to
the USDA handbook, Virus Diseases of Small
Fruits, and the APS Compendium of Raspberry
and Blackberry Diseases and Insects, which
remain valuable and widely used resources to
this day.
In retirement, Dick was an active volunteer
in the grade schools in Corvallis for more than
a decade, often serving as a teacher’s assistant
several days each week. Due to his fluency
in Spanish, he was especially important to
students in the dual language programs, and
was beloved by students and teachers alike.
Dick was preceded in death by his daughter
Nancy Roe and his son Paul Converse. He is
survived by his wife, Leona; son, Frank; three
grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
Norman L. Horn, Jr. died on June 10, 2014,
in Covington, LA, at
the age of 94. He was a
faculty member in the
Department of Plant
Pathology and Crop
Physiology for 31 years,
where he obtained his
Ph.D. degree in 1951. During his tenure,
he worked on a number of plant disease
management strategies for soybeans and wheat
as well as citrus and strawberry. He developed
fungicide programs for many of these
commodities and developed seed treatments
too. He was the first to test benomyl for
soybeans and found great success in managing
the pod and stem disease complex caused by
species of Diaporthe and Collectotrichum. He
also studied benomyl resistance in populations
of these plant-pathogenic fungi. This research
led to the general use of fungicides on
soybeans in Louisiana, which was responsible
for large increases in soybean yields. Horn
was very successful in attracting funding for
his research program via chemical companies
and the Soybean Promotion Board and he
used a portion of these funds to help support
academic and other activities within the
department. Horn was preceded in death by
his first wife, Lucile Degrazier, and is survived
by his current wife, Claudette; two sons,
Norman and John; John’s wife Debra; and one
granddaughter, Holly Marie.
Poorna Nand Thapliyal
was born at Narendra
Nagar, Dist. Tehri,
Uttar Pradesh (now
Uttarakhand) on May
4, 1939, and passed
away on November 3,
2014. He received his
early education from
the Government College, Tehri Garhwal,
and a B.Sc. degree from the Banaras Hindu
University. He earned a B.Sc. (Hon.)
agriculture and animal husbandry in 1963 and
an M.Sc. degree in plant pathology in 1965
from the Uttar Pradesh Agricultural University
(UPAU), presently, G. B. Pant University of
Agriculture and Technology (GBPUA&T),
Pantnagar, and was appointed as a senior
research assistant in plant pathology at the
same university.
In 1967, he joined the University of
Illinois and earned a doctorate degree in plant
pathology in 1970, working with James B.
Sinclair on soybean pathology. The same year,
he accepted a position of assistant professor
in plant pathology at UPAU, Pantnagar, and
in 1977 was appointed as senior research
officer/associate professor. He was invited to
participate in the Asia Oceana Soybean Rust
Workshop at the University of Illinois in 1977
because of his outstanding work on soybean
rust. Again, during 1981–1983, Thapliyal
joined the University of Illinois as a postdoctoral fellow and worked on “Interaction
between microorganisms as a means for
biological control of soybean pathogens.”
In 1986, Thapliyal joined GBPUA&T as a
professor of plant pathology and then worked
as a senior scientist II at the International
Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid
Tropics (ICRISAT), Hyderabad (1988–1989).
He served as the head of the Plant Pathology
Department, GBPUA&T, from 1993 to
1996. During this period, the department was
awarded Centre of Advanced Studies (CAS) by
the Indian Council of Agricultural Research
(ICAR) and he headed it as its first director.
Thapliyal gracefully superannuated from the
university services on May 31, 1999.
Thapliyal successfully pursued his
professional career in soybean pathology
and fungicides. Besides authoring many
publications of international and national
repute, Thapliyal coauthored the book
Fungicides in Plant Disease Control with Y.
L. Nene, which was published by Oxford
and IBH, New Delhi. In addition, Thapliyal
taught several courses such as Introductory
Plant Pathology, Fungicides, Plant Disease
Epidemiology, etc., to undergraduate and
post-graduate students. He guided many
students for their master’s and Ph.D. theses
research. Thapliyal was a life member of
the Indian Phytopathological Society (IPS)
and the Indian Society of Mycology and
Plant Pathology (ISMPP). He was elected
councilor for the mid-eastern region for IPS
in 1981. During his doctoral program at the
University of Illinois, he was elected member
of three reputed honor societies, Phi Kappa
Phi, Gamma Sigma Delta, and Sigma Xi. He
received the ISMPP Y. L. Nene Best Teacher
Award in Plant Pathology in 2005 for his
outstanding contributions to teaching of plant
pathology at undergraduate and post-graduate
levels and for guiding master’s and doctoral
research at Pantnagar.
Thapliyal will always be fondly remembered
by his former colleagues and students as a
disciplined and sincere researcher, a tough
teacher, and a modest, non-controversial,
friendly, and helpful person with a good sense
of humor. He was also quite familiar with
the farming community and their problems
around Pantnagar, as he would often visit
them to address their problems.
In his demise, the Indian agricultural
scientific community has lost a good soybean
plant pathologist, a good teacher, and a good
human being. Fraternity of Plant Pathology at
Pantnagar and elsewhere in the country and
abroad and his friends and students deeply
mourn the sad demise of Dr. Thapliyal. He
is survived by his wife, two sons, and two
grandchildren. n
Phytopathology News 25
Classifieds
Classified Policy: You can process your job listing at www.apsnet.org/careers/jobcenter. Please
note: Your online job listing may be edited by newsletter staff to approximately 200 words for the
print listing in Phytopathology News. Fees for posting online are $25 member/$50 nonmember for
graduate or post-doc positions and $200 member/$250 nonmember for all other positions. To
have your job listing included in Phytopathology News, simply select the option on the online form
(there is an additional $55 fee). If you have any questions, contact the APS Placement
Coordinator (apsplacement@scisoc.org).
Assistant Professor—Nematology
Washington State University (WSU),
Department of Plant Pathology in the
College of Agricultural, Human, and
Natural Resource Sciences (CAHNRS) seeks
an assistant professor in the area of plant
nematology. Applications are invited for a
permanent, full-time, 12-,month, tenureeligible position to begin July 1, 2015 or
as negotiated at the Pullman, WA, campus.
The position is focused primarily on research
emphasizing molecular and applied aspects
of plant-parasitic nematodes, plant-nematode
interactions, and the diseases they cause on
crops of importance in Washington State.
The successful candidate will develop a
rigorous and collaborative research program
focused on basic and applied aspects of plant
nematology that will address nematodes and
plant diseases caused by nematodes in the U.S.
Pacific Northwest. The candidate is expected
to have expertise in classical and molecular
nematology and contribute to teaching in the
WSU Department of Plant Pathology. The
successful candidate is expected to develop
a dynamic and active research program that
is recognized nationally, and eventually,
internationally, consistent with the mission
of the WSU CAHNRS Office of Research,
concerning plant nematology. To apply, visit
www.wsujobs.com and be prepared to submit
a letter of application specifically addressing
each required and preferred qualification, CV,
a separate statement of research interests, a
list of three professional references (include
names, addresses, e-mails, and telephone
numbers), and a scanned photocopy of official
transcripts to facilitate screening. Finalists will
be asked to submit three letters of reference.
For questions about the position, contact
Dennis A. Johnson, Search Committee
Chair, +1.509.335.3753, dajohn@wsu.edu.
EEO/AA/ADA.
Extension Plant Pathologist—Tenure-Track
Faculty Position
The Department of Plant Sciences and Plant
Pathology at Montana State University seeks
an individual who will develop an outstanding
extension education program covering
disease management strategies for row crops
(sugarbeets, potatoes), legumes (pulse crops,
Here are just a few of the headlines you missed
from the APS Twitter feed.
Blueberry rust spreads in Australia http://bit.ly/1DkCF16
Stripe rust surveillance aims to reduce risk http://bit.ly/1xEOegw
Bacteria-infested potato seeds from other states led to disease http://bit.ly/1BL90KF
Nigeria may miss cocoa output target as disease takes toll http://bloom.bg/172qiJX
Global efforts needed to stop deadly banana disease, protect industry
http://bit.ly/147MwsJ
Soybean rust develops partial resistance to fungicides in Brazil http://bit.ly/17iEoqz
BBC: Killer disease prompts tree felling in Cumbria http://bbc.in/1zXaBug
Potential biological control for avocado disease found http://bit.ly/17iEpec
Phylloxera: The parasite that changed wine forever http://bit.ly/1BL9tfK
Get the latest and greatest plant disease news as it happens!
www.twitter.com/plantdisease
26 February 2015
dry beans), forages, and other important crops
in Montana. The extension education program
should be supportive of county agents
and address needs of growers, agricultural
professionals, agribusiness, trade associations,
and the various commodity groups associated
with crop responsibilities. The individual will
also develop an applied research program that
is innovative and relevant to stakeholder needs
and extension responsibilities and participate
in the state Integrated Pest Management
program. Screening of applications will begin
on February 13, 2015, and will continue
to be accepted until an adequate pool is
established. For complete job announcement
and application procedures, visit https://jobs.
montana.edu/postings/1105. AA/ADA/EEO/
Vet Pref Employer. Plant Pathologist—Forest Health Protection
The USDA Forest Service will be advertising
a plant pathologist position with Forest Health
Protection (FHP) in Coeur d’Alene, ID.
The incumbent provides technical assistance
and support to federal land managers on
the identification, roles, and management
of forest diseases. The position is part of
the Regional State and Private Forestry
staff directly supervised by the FHP Coeur
d’Alene office group leader. The incumbent
works closely with entomologists, plant
pathologists, silviculturists, and other
resource specialists. This position requires
extensive overnight travel and work in field
locations. This position is permanent fulltime. The position will likely be advertised
at the GS-9, 11, and 12 federal levels. To
express interest in this position or for more
information, please contact Gregg DeNitto at
+1.406.329.3637 or gdenitto@fs.fed.us. The
actual announcement will be advertised in
www.USAJobs.com later this winter. n
Important APS Dates
to Remember
February 2015
2 Call for Papers opens for 2015 APS
Annual Meeting
13 Student Travel Award process opens
13 Applications due for Schroth Faces of
the Future Symposium
March 2015
20 Applications due for Student Travel
Awards
Picks of the Plant Pathology Research Crop!
APS journals publish hundreds of articles
reporting on novel research each year.
Each month, the editors-in-chief of each
APS journal—Phytopathology, Plant Disease,
Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, and Plant
Health Progress—handpick and highlight one
interesting article from each of their respective
journals and write a short synopsis of it.
These picks highlight important discoveries,
new prediction models, and other notable
research.
These picks appear regularly in APS News
Capsules and APS Journals’ Online Research
Updates. Shown below are all the picks from
2014:
Plant Disease
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Control of Phytophthora nicotianae
Seedling Resistance to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum
Disease-Suppressive Vermicompost
Xylella fastidiosa and Bacterial Leaf Scorch
Triazole Sensitivity in Fusarium graminearum from New York Wheat
Cassava Frogskin Disease in Brazil
Evaluation of Atoxigenic Aspergillus flavus Strain AF36 in Pistachio Orchards
Fungicide Resistance Profiles and Evidence for Stepwise Accumulation of Resistance
in Botrytis cinerea
A Sheepish Way to Spread Disease
A Latent Period Duration Model for Wheat Stem Rust
Fitness of Erysiphe necator Against Quinone Outside Inhibitors
A Novel Plant Family-Specific Root Pathogen
Phytopathology
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Toxin Accumulation in Field Oat Grains
Foliar Application of Biofilm Formation
Roles of a Solo LuxR in the Biological Control Agent Lysobacter enzymogenes
Temporal Progression of ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ Infection in Citrus
Imaging of Nematode Development and Plant–Nematode Interactions
Diversity of Ralstonia solanacearum in French Guiana
Discrimination of Plant-Parasitic Nematodes from Complex Soil Communities
Yr36 and Resistance to Wheat Yellow Rust in Cool Climates
Mandarin Okitsu Leaves and Canker Disease Resistance
Sudden Vegetation Dieback of Salt Marshes in New England
Divergence of Acidovorax citrulli Strains
Detection of Downy Mildew Pathogens of Spinach
MPMI
1. Kinases and Signal Transduction in Tomato and Solanaceae Species
2. Open Access Spotlight Article: Two Distinct EF-Tu Epitopes Induce Immune Responses
in Rice and Arabidopsis
3. Effectors as Tools in Disease Resistance Breeding
4. Melanin and the Corn Pathogen Colletotrichum graminicola
5. Herbivore Cues from Fall Armyworm Larvae Trigger Direct Defenses in Maize
6. Knocking Out Bcsas1 in Botrytis cinerea
7. Metabolic Environments and Genomic Features Associated with Pathogenic and
Mutualistic Interactions Between Bacteria and Plants
PHP
APS Journals
The premier source for
peer-reviewed plant pathology
research since 1911.
1. Effect of Host Resistance to Fusarium virguliforme and Heterodera glycines on Sudden
Death Syndrome Disease Severity and Soybean Yield
2. Managing Fire blight
3. Host Resistance and Soybean Yield
4. Management of Cranberry fruit rot
5. Effects of Environmental Conditions on Puccinia horiana Teliospores
6. Setaria spp. as Alternative Hosts for Causal Agent of Corn Diseases
7. Progression of Symptoms on Infected Blueberry
8. Pathogen Survival on Soybean Leaf Debris
9. Attraction of Beetle to Fungus Geosmithia morbida
10. Suppression of watermelon fruit rot
11. First Occurrences of Viral Diseases
12. Improving the Management of Onion Thrips and Iris yellow spot virus
See Editors Picks in the English, Spanish, and Chinese languages at
www.apsnet.org/publications/APSjournalsEditorsPicks/Pages/default.aspx
n
Phytopathology News 27
www.apsnet.org
Periodicals
The American Phytopathological Society
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St. Paul, MN 55121
United States of America
Calendar of Events
APS Sponsored Events
February 2015
1-2Southern Division Meeting.
Atlanta, GA.
www.apsnet.org/members/divisions/south
March 2015
11-13 APS Potomac Division Meeting.
Rehoboth Beach, DE.
www.apsnet.org/members/divisions/pot
June 2015
Other Upcoming Events
February 2015
9-13 Research Conference on Huanglongbing (IRCHLB IV). Orlando, FL.
www.irchlb.org
March 2015
8-13 2015 Gordon Research Conference and Seminar on Chemical and Biological
Terrorism. Ventura, CA. www.grc.org
17-22 28th Fungal Genetics Conference. Pacific Grove, CA.
23-27 Eighth International IPM Symposium, IPM: Solutions for a Changing World.
Salt Lake City, UT. www.ipmcenters.org/IPMSymposium15
24-26 61st Annual Meeting of the Conference on Soilborne Plant
Pathogens. University of California-Riverside. http://soilfungus.ars.usda.gov
10-12 North Central Division Meeting.
East Lansing, MI.
www.apsnet.org/members/divisions/nc
June 2015
July 2015
8-1223rd International Conference on Virus and Other Graft-Transmissable Diseases
of Fruit Crops. Morioka, Japan. www.icvf23.jp
19-23 Caribbean Division Meeting.
Mexico City, Mexico
August 2015
1-5 APS Annual Meeting. Pasadena, CA.
1-5 Pacific Division Meeting. (in conjunction
with APS Annual Meeting)
July 2016
30-Aug 3 APS Annual Meeting.
Tampa, FL.
16-17 35th New Phytologist Symposium—The Genomes of Forest Trees: New Frontiers
of Forest Biology. Boston, MA. www.newphytologist.org/symposiums/view/37
August 2015
10-28 2015 Rice Research to Production Course. IRRI, the Philippines.
24-27 XVII International Plant Protection Congress. Berlin, Germany.
www.ippc2015.de
September 2015
14-16 Australian Plant Pathology Conference. Fremantle, Western Australia.
www.apps2015.com.au
November 2015
29-Dec 1 36th New Phytologist Symposium—Cell Biology at the Plant–Microbe
Interface. Munich, Germany. www.newphytologist.org/symposiums/view/38
December 2015
5–11 Plant-Parasitic Nematode Identification Workshop. Clemson, SC.
www.clemson.edu/cafls/nematology/short_course.html