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.
2007
Abstract
In winter 2000-2001, there was a serious outbreak of Gremmeniella abietina Morelet in southeastern Norway. During the outbreak, we noted that injured Scots pine trees (Pinus sylvestris L.) developed secondary buds in response to the fungus attack, and we decided to study the relationship between injury, appearance of secondary buds and recovery of the trees thereafter. For this purpose, 143 trees from 10 to 50 years of age were chosen and grouped into crown density classes. Injury was assessed in detail, and buds were counted before bud burst in the spring of 2002. In addition, a subset of 15 trees was followed through the summer of 2002 to assess recovery. All injured trees developed secondary buds, with a clear overweight of dormant winter buds in proportion to interfoliar buds. Healthy control trees did not develop secondary buds at all. The secondary buds appeared predominantly on the injured parts of the tree; interfoliar buds in particular developed just beneath the damaged tissue. Most of the secondary buds died during the winter of 2001-2002, mainly because the fungus continued to spread after the first outbreak. Many of the remaining buds developed shoots with abnormal growth during the summer. Secondary buds may help trees to recover from Gremmeniella attacks, but this strategy may fail when the fungus continues to grow and injure the newly formed buds and shoots.
2006
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
In spring 2002, extensive damage was recorded in southeast Norway on nursery-grown Norway spruce seedlings that had either wintered in nursery cold storage or had been planted out in autumn 2001. The damage was characterised by a top shoot dieback. Two visually distinct types of necroses were located either on the upper or lower part of the 2001-year-shoot. Isolations from the upper stem necroses rendered Gremmeniella abietina, while Phomopsis sp. was isolated mostly from the lower stem necroses. RAMS (random amplified microsatellites) profiling indicated that the G. abietina strains associated with diseased nursery seedlings belonged to LTT (large-tree type) ecotype,and inoculation tests confirmed their pathogenicity on Norway spruce seedlings. Phomopsis sp. was not pathogenic in inoculation tests, this implying it may be a secondary colonizer. We describe here the Gremmeniella – associated shoot dieback symptoms on Norway spruce seedlings and conclude that the unusual disease outburst was related to the Gremmeniella epidemic caused by the LTT ecotype on large Scots pines in 2001. The role of Phomopsis sp. in the tissue of diseased Norway spruce seedlings is yet unclear.
Abstract
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Abstract
The difficulty in sub-culturing biotrophic fungi complicates etiological studies related to the associated plant diseases. By employing species-specific ITS sequence stretches, we used real-time PCR to investigate the spatial colonization profiles of T. areolata and a co-existing Phomopsis species in seedlings and saplings of Norway spruce showing bark necrosis. There was a strong gradient in the colonization level of T. areolata DNA along the lesion length, with the highest DNA amount levels being recorded in the area with dark brown phloem. The separate analysis of bark and wood tissues indicated that the initial spread of the rust to healthy tissues neighbouring the infection site presumably takes place in the bark. A Phomopsis species co-existing together with T. areolata in several cases showed very high DNA levels in the upper part of the lesion outside the brown phloem area, and even in the visually healthy proximal tissues above the lesions. This indicates that this ascomycete has a latent stage during early colonization of Norway spruce shoots. This mode of infection most probably explains the successful co-existence of Phomopsis with a biotrophic rust, as their mutual interest would be to avoid triggering host cell death.
Abstract
The root-rot causing fungus Heterobasidion annosum can attack both spruce and pine trees and is the economically most damaging pathogen in northern European forestry. We have monitored the H. annosum S-type (fairly recently named H. parviporum) colonization rate and expression of host chitinases and other host transcripts in Norway spruce material with differing resistances using quatitative realtime PCR. Transcript levels of three chitinases, representing classes I, II and IV, were monitored. Ramets of two 33-year-old clones differing in resistance were employed as host material and inoculation and wounding was performed. clones in the area immediately adjacent to inoculation. Fourteen days after infection, pathogen colonization was restricted to the area immediately adjacent to the site of inoculation for the strong clone (589), but had progressed further into the host tissue in the weak clone (409). Transcript levels of the class II and IV chitinases increased following wounding or inoculation, while the transcript level of the class I chitinase declined following these treatments. Transcript levels of the class II and class IV chitinases were higher in areas immediately adjacent to the inoculation site in 589 than in similar sites in 409 three days after inoculation, suggesting that the clones differ in the rate of pathogen perception and host defense signal transduction. This an earlier experiments using mature spruce clones as substrate indicate that it is the speed of the host response and not maximum amplitude of the host response that is the most crucial component in an efficient defense in Norway spruce toward pathogenic fungi such as H. annosum.
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No abstract has been registered
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No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered