A new myosin motor-like chitin synthase gene, chsVb, has been identified in the vascular wilt fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici. Phylogenetic analysis of the deduced amino acid sequence of the chsVb chitin synthase 2 domain (CS2) revealed that ChsVb belongs to class VII chitin synthases. The ChsVb myosin motor-like domain (MMD) is shorter than the MMD of class V chitin synthases and ...

A severe disease of tomato was observed in 2010 in a greenhouse in the province of Lecce (Apulia, southern Italy). Plants showed interveinal yellowing and thickening of mature leaves and a bushy appearance of the new growth. Pale-yellow spots, which became sunken and necrotic, were scattered on the fruit surface. Leaf symptoms were reminiscent of those induced by Tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV) o...

Chlorotic ringspots or chlorotic leaf specking, terminal bud necrosis, axillary shoot proliferation and severe stunting of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) were shown to be caused by tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV). Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata cv. C-152) was found to be a good assay host. TSWV remained infective in buffered sap of groundnut at a dilution of 10-2’5, after storage for 4 h at room temp...

This report describes a green chemical method for controlling soil-borne plant diseases without disinfection using an equimolar copolymer of N-benzyl-4-vinylpyridinium chloride with styrene (PBVP-co-ST) that captures microbial cells alive on the surface and is highly biodegradable. Tomato bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum was controlled by the addition of sawdust coated with PBVP-...

My farm consists of 225 acres on hilly land in Lancaster County, PA. We grow a diversity of crops and our early tomatoes are grown in two acres of multi-bay high tunnels. I reluctantly was forced to fumigate in the tunnels due to problems with verticillium wilt (race 2). At my farm, we have looked at grafting to manage verticillium and other soilborne diseases in our tunnels, and have seen that...

Wilt is an important disease of tomato crop causing significant reduction in yield. In present study, the pathogenic fungus was isolated from infected plant and identified based on morphological and cultural characters as Fusarium oxysporum f.sp.lycopersici whose pathogenicity was confirmed by Koch’s postulate on tomato seedling. In vitro evaluation of extracts of 20 plant species was done by p...