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.
2016
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Johannes Eichhorn Peter Roskams Nenad Potocic Volkmar Timmermann Marco Ferretti Volker Mues Andras Szepesi Dave Durrant Ivan Seletkovic Hans‐Werner Schroeck Seppo Nevalainen Filippo Bussotti Paloma Garcia Sören WulffAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
R. Drenkhan Halvor Solheim A. Bogacheva T. Riit K. Adamson T. Drenkhan T. Maaten Ari HietalaAbstract
Dieback of European ash was first observed in Europe in the early 1990s. The disease is caused by the invasive ascomycete Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, proposed to originate from Far East Asia, where it has been considered a harmless saprotroph. This study investigates the occurrence of H. fraxineus in tissues of local ash species in the Russian Far East, and assesses its population-specific genetic variation by ITS sequencing. Shoot dieback symptoms, characteristic of H. fraxineus infection on European ash, were common, but not abundant, on Fraxinus mandshurica and Fraxinus rhynchophylla trees in Far East Russia. High levels of pathogen DNA were associated with necrotic leaf tissues of these ash species, indicating that the local H. fraxineus population is pathogenic to their leaves. However, the low levels of H. fraxineus DNA detected in shoots with symptoms, the failure to isolate this fungus from such tissues, and the presence of other fungi with pathogenic potential in shoots with symptoms indicate that local H. fraxineus strains may not be responsible (or their role is negligible) for the observed ash shoot dieback symptoms in the region. Conspicuous differences in ITS rDNA sequences detected between H. fraxineus isolates from Russian Far East and European populations suggest that the current ash dieback epidemic in Europe might not directly originate from the Russian Far East. Revision of the herbarium material shows that the earliest specimen of H. fraxineus was collected in 1962 from the Russian Far East and the oldest H. fraxineus specimen of China was collected in 2004.
Authors
Ari HietalaAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Ari HietalaAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
In Europe, common ash (Fraxinus excelsior) is being decimated because of the invasive fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. In its native range in Asia this ascomycete is considered a harmless leaf associate of F. mandshurica and F. chinensis subsp. rhynchophylla. Field observations from Europe suggest that there is speciesspecific variation in disease susceptibility among European and North American Fraxinus species, but a wider comparison at the genus level has been missing so far. We assessed disease symptoms and pathogen apothecium development in 17 Fraxinus species from Asia, Europe and North America exposed to high infection pressure in a Danish arboretum. We also tested their susceptibility to pathogen infection through controlled stem and leaf inoculations and subsequently assessed the level of pathogen DNA by a qPCR assay. The results suggested the presence of a phylogenetic signal in disease susceptibility where closely related Asian, European and North American species in section Fraxinus had relatively high levels of H. fraxineus DNA in the leaves and supported high production of apothecia. Leaves from some North American species also contained relatively high levels of H. fraxineus DNA, supported moderate production of apothecia and developed lesions—stating the need to avoid introduction of H. fraxineus to North America.
Authors
Ari HietalaAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
Top dieback of Norway spruce (Picea abies), triggered by drought in 2004–2006, has been observed in Southeast Norway and trees died within four years after appearance of the first symptoms. The aim of our study was to use sap flux measurements as a diagnostic method for assessment of tree vitality. We used the heat field deformation method to monitor the sap flux density (SFD) in four pairs of healthy and declining trees in situ. To provide retrospective information on hydraulic performance of the trees we took samples for wood anatomical analysis. After felling the trees we used the modified differential translucence method (MDT) as a proxy for the SFD measurements. Healthy trees had three times higher SFD values as declining trees. In some healthy trees we detected decreasing SFD with time. The MDT method agreed with the SFD measurements. In conclusion, we detected sap flux dysfunction in declining trees and showed that the SFD reduction may occur during a short period, prior to occurrence of any visual symptoms. We suggest incorporating the SFD measurements into the repertoire of diagnostic tools in forest pathology.
Authors
Eivind Vangdal Alena Gibalova Jorunn Børve Iren Knutsen Mojca Korošec Rajko Vidrih Per Gustav Anders LeufvénAbstract
Aroma is an important quality factor in fruit, and it is important to know the effect of new orchard management practices on fruit aroma. Fruit growers are using more foliar fertilizers to achieve the optimum mineral status in fruit. In this work the effects of adding extra nitrogen, calcium and both nitrogen and calcium to apple trees in the fruit cell division phase were studied. Even though the given nitrogen and calcium did not give significantly higher content of N and Ca in the treated fruits, differences in the contents of some aroma compounds were found. Nitrogen treated trees gave apples with more hexanal, a compound known in unripe ("green, grassy") apples. When both calcium and nitrogen were applied, the negative effect of nitrogen on aroma compounds was less pronounced. The aroma of these fruits was more similar to the controls. Using multivariate statistical analyses, the grouping of the different treatments during storage was confirmed. Foliar fertilization with nitrogen and calcium during the cell division phase had a significant effect on the amount of aroma compounds in apples at harvest and during storage.