Grafting has been increasingly used to overcome soilborne pathogens. The commercial rootstock hybrids AF-8253 (Sakata) and Fortaleza (Takii), as well Embrapa’s new hybrid, BRS Acará, were evaluated rootstocks for the bell pepper Margarita (Syngenta) Pampa (Clause) scions, under natural infestation of Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum, upon artificial inoculation with a) ten isolates, b) one Phytopht...

Mycorrhizal fungi and insects are important components of most ecosystems that are likely to interact with one another indirectly through a common host plant. In this paper, we review the literature examining the effects of insects on mycorrhizal fungi and the effects of mycorrhizal fungi on insects and show that both groups of organisms can indirectly and, occasionally directly, influence each...

Ectomycorrhizal fungi occur in remarkably species-rich assemblages. One of the prevailing hypotheses to explain this diversity is niche differentiation; by occupying distinct ecological niches within a site, multiple fungal species are able to co-occur (Bruns, 1995). In this issue of New Phytologist (pp. 000–000), Ishida and colleagues make a significant contribution to our understanding of nic...

The vibration of fungal cultures was evaluated to determine its potential effect on the dispersal of airborne fungal microorganisms suspected of being pathogens. An artificial vibration system, which simulates the actual environmental vibration of fungal structures, was designed and constructed for this purpose. Experiments featured the use of low-frequency vibrations similar to those induced b...

A variety of non-chemical alternatives to methyl bromide (MB) fumigation of soil for horticultural crop production have been researched in the USA. Non-chemical alternatives are highly desirable but difficult to implement to reproduce the benefits normally obtained by preplant fumigation of soil in strawberry production. Production of pathogen-free, high-quality planting materials using steam a...

Development and application of non-fumigant measures for the control of soilborne diseases in field level production systems is limited by the capacity to consistently predict efficacy. Although organic amendments have repeatedly been evaluated for the potential to provide an environmentally sustainable means to manage soilborne diseases, adoption of such methods has been limited to very specif...

Esca disease of grapevine is gaining increasing importance in Central European wine-growing countries. Several fungi, all of which are wood-inhabiting, were found to be associated with the disease. The taxa thought to act as main causal agents are the basidiomycete, Fomitiporia mediterranea, and, less frequently, the deuteromycetes, Phaeomoniella chlamydospora and Phaeoacremonium aleophilum. In...