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Publications

NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.

2009

Abstract

Microdochium nivale (syn. Microdochium nivale var. nivale) and Microdochium majus (syn. Microdochium nivale var. majus) are important pathogens which cause snow mould on grasses and winter cereals. These fungi are also able to cause leaf blotch of oat and seedling blight, foot rot and ear blight in cereals. Although no distinct differences in the host range of M. nivale and M. majus are found, indications for differences in host preferences between these fungal species have previously been discussed. The culture collection at Bioforsk contains about 250 Microdochium sp. isolated from grasses and cereals over the last 20 years. Most of the isolates collected from leaves of cereals displaying snow mould symptoms in spring, were identified as M. nivale (71 %), whereas most of the isolates collected from cereal seeds (mostly wheat) belong to the species M. majus (92 %). All, except one out of the sixty nine Microdochium sp. isolated from grass leaves were identified as M. nivale (99 %). The relatively higher incidence of M. majus vs. M. nivale on cereal seeds (mostly wheat) harvested in Norway, is in agreement with studies in UK (Parry et al. 1995). Parry et al. suggested that higher natural occurrence of M. majus (vs. M. nivale) on seeds of cereals could be partly due to the higher proportion of M. majus isolates producing perithecia and thus, a relatively higher amount of M. majus spores spreading to the ear (Parry et al. 1995). The high frequency of M. nivale (99 %) vs. M. majus on grasses collected in Norway could indicate that M. nivale is more aggressive on certain grass species. Studies in our lab indeed point towards a higher aggressiveness of M. nivale vs. M. majus on perennial ryegrass at low temperature (2?C) (Hofgaard et al 2006). However, the high incidence of M. nivale on grass leaves could also be caused by differences in temperature preferences, saprophytic ability or ability to infect certain plant parts. Isolates of M. nivale display a higher in vitro growth rate compared to isolates of M. majus at 2?C (Hofgaard et al. 2006). In conclusion, the higher natural occurrence of M. nivale vs. M. majus on turf grasses and the relatively higher aggressiveness of M. nivale on perennial ryegrass could indicate that M. nivale somehow is better adapted to infect certain grass species.

Abstract

The most important and widespread disease on golf courses is Microdochium nivale. It is a psycrotrophic fungal plant pathogen that is the main cause of biotic winter injury in grasses in the temperate and sub-arctic climates, both with and without snow cover. It is an opportunistic pathogen, with the ability to attack plants under a wide range of environmental conditions. A large variation in both host preference and aggressiveness among isolates has been documented. It is speculated that these traits as well as competition between isolates may be dependent on temperature. The fungus is spread by infected seeds and from infected plants or debris. Besides seed transmitted inoculum, it is not clear whether the primary inoculum source is wind dispersed ascospores or soilborne/plant debris borne inoculum. Wind borne ascospores has been claimed to be the main inoculum source, but perithecia are hardly observed on grasses on Norway. The aim of the present project was obtain better understanding of what is the source of primary inoculum for snow mould caused by M. nivale; to understand how inoculum of M. nivale survives from spring to fall, and from year to year, to understand how climatic conditions affects the potential inoculum by monitoring symptoms on plants, occurrence of the fungus and growth characteristics in vitro of strains sampled from snow melt and through summer and autumn. To obtain such knowledge, surveys and sampling on selected golf courses was conducted. Snow mould symptoms and the occurrence of M. nivale in leaves and stems of grasses sampled from golf greens and foregreens was reduced during the growth season. We also found that M. nivale could be isolated from locations without visible symptoms. Despite a lower isolation rate in autumn, M. nivale was again isolated in some of the originally locations, the following spring. The M. nivale isolation rate was similar from sites located on greens compared to foregreens, and from greens located at more sunny sites compared to more shadowy located greens. We conclude that this fungus seem to survive from year to year within the same locations on greens and foregreens.

To document

Abstract

Field experiments in the high rainfall zone (HRZ) and the medium rainfall zone (MRZ) in Zambia were designed to determine the natural occurrence of fumonisins (FB1-2) in Zambian maize hybrids, accumulation of FB1-2 resulting from artificial inoculation with Fusarium verticillioides and effects of climate and planting time on FB1-2 in maize. Combined FB1-2 concentrations varied from 0 to 13,050 ng/g, with an overall mean of 666 ng/g. Maize from the HRZ had low incidences of FB1-2-positive samples (mean 41%) which contained FB1-2 below 500 ng/g. In the MRZ, higher incidences (mean 97%) and concentrations (40% of samples > 1,000 ng/g) were recorded in two out of three years. There was no correlation between mean location FB1-2 concentrations in individual years and precipitation, number of rain days or monthly precipitation. Postponing the planting time with 10 or 20 days did not significantly affect FB1-2 concentration, but it reduced the yields in some years.

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Abstract

In this study, we surveyed the long term effects of liming and fertilizing in old Scots pine stands on the ectomycorrhiza (ECM) colonization, tree growth and needle nutrient concentration 35 years later. Four mature stands of Scots pine on low productive mineral soil were limed in 1959 and 1964 with total doses of limestone ranging from 3 to 15 Mg ha1 and fertilized with nitrogen (N) in 1970. Thirty-five years after the first liming treatment, all stands were analysed for tree growth and needle nutrient concentrations and two of the stands were also analysed for ECM colonization. ECM colonization increased significantly with liming from 61.5% in the control plots to 88% in the plot with the highest limestone dose...