Pecan scab, caused by the plant pathogenic fungus Fusicladium effusum, is the most destructive disease of pecan, an important specialty crop cultivated in several regions of the world. Only a few members of the family Venturiaceae (in which the pathogen resides) have been reported sequenced. We report the first draft genome sequence (40.6 Mb) of an isolate F. effusum collected from a pecan tree...

Despite intensive research, efforts to control Fusarium fungal infections and prevent or eliminate the presence of its mycotoxins in foods have not met with a great deal of success. Fusaria cause diseases, such as ear rot in corn and head blight and scab in wheat, that affect growth and yield of crops and were estimated to cause a loss of a billion dollars to wheat farmers in the USA in 1993. I...

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a serious disease of wheat and barley that is best controlled by host resistance. In KSU Extension publications, the reaction to FHB for winter wheat cultivars is reported to producers using a 1-9 scale where 1-3 = resistant, 4-6 = intermediate, and 7-9 = susceptible. This research sought to determine how many location-years are needed to accurately determine the r...

Sheep scab caused by the mite Psoroptes ovis (Hering) is a highly contagious disease of sheep. As a first step in developing a mite-derived vaccine for controlling the disease, the soluble antigens in mite extracts which induce an immune response in sheep were identified by electrophoretic and immunoblotting techniques. At least 22 proteins were present in P. ovis extracts as revealed by Coomas...

Characterized by expensive housing, high socioeconomic status, and topographic relief, Upper Sonoran Lifestyle communities are found primarily along the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) in the Phoenix, Arizona metro area. Communities like these sprawl into the wildlands in the United States Southwest, creating a distinct urban fringe. This article, through locational comparison, introduces and ev...

Crowley et al. (Reports, 13 March 2015, p. 1237) propose that abyssal hill topography can be generated by variations in volcanism at mid-ocean ridges modulated by Milankovitch cycle-driven changes in sea level. Published values for abyssal hill characteristic widths versus spreading rate do not generally support this hypothesis. I argue that abyssal hills are primarily fault-generated rather th...

Sand dunes are often covered by vegetation and biogenic crusts. Despite their significant role in dune stabilization, biogenic crusts have rarely been considered in model studies of dune dynamics. Using a simple model, we study the existence and stability ranges of different dune-cover states along gradients of rainfall and wind power. Two ranges of alternative stable states are identified: fix...