Forecasting of Airborne Conidia Quantities and Potential Insect Associations of <i>Cryphonectria parasitica</i>, the Causal Agent of Chestnut Blight, in England
Sweet chestnut, an Asiatic tree introduced in many parts of Europe including the United Kingdom, is planted for nut production, timber, and amenity. Its major threat is the disease called blight, caused by the fungus <i>Cryphonectria parasitica</i>, which infects through wounds by airbor...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Journal of Fungi |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2309-608X/10/3/181 |
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| author | Pedro Romon-Ochoa Pankajini Samal Tom Pace Tim Newman Mark Oram Nicholas Baxter John A. S. Manning Mick Biddle Kerry Barnard Daegan Inward Paul Taylor Steven Hendry Ana Pérez-Sierra Lisa Ward |
| author_facet | Pedro Romon-Ochoa Pankajini Samal Tom Pace Tim Newman Mark Oram Nicholas Baxter John A. S. Manning Mick Biddle Kerry Barnard Daegan Inward Paul Taylor Steven Hendry Ana Pérez-Sierra Lisa Ward |
| author_sort | Pedro Romon-Ochoa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Sweet chestnut, an Asiatic tree introduced in many parts of Europe including the United Kingdom, is planted for nut production, timber, and amenity. Its major threat is the disease called blight, caused by the fungus <i>Cryphonectria parasitica</i>, which infects through wounds by airborne spores. Field trapping using sticky rods rotating traps was performed in an infected area in Devon (between May 2021 and April 2023). An improved dual hydrolysis Taqman probes real-time PCR was used. The number of spores was calculated by comparing the cycle threshold to the Ct of standards with known amounts of conidia or known target fragment copies cloned into a plasmid. Weekly spore counts were in the range of around 60 to approximately 8.5 × 10<sup>3</sup>, with fluctuations of peaks (mainly in late summer–autumn 2021) and troughs. The effects of weather parameters were modelled, finding correlations between spore numbers and temperature, humidity, dewpoint, rainfall, wind speed, and wind duration. Additionally, an insect trapping was performed to confirm the presence/absence and quantity of <i>C. parasitica</i> conidia potentially phoretic on some insects by using the same molecular approach. None of the ten collected insect species harboured spores of this fungus. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:06:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5a09888547c54553b04d9f34a9ed5404 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2309-608X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:06:56Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Fungi |
| spelling | doaj.art-5a09888547c54553b04d9f34a9ed54042024-03-27T13:49:38ZengMDPI AGJournal of Fungi2309-608X2024-02-0110318110.3390/jof10030181Forecasting of Airborne Conidia Quantities and Potential Insect Associations of <i>Cryphonectria parasitica</i>, the Causal Agent of Chestnut Blight, in EnglandPedro Romon-Ochoa0Pankajini Samal1Tom Pace2Tim Newman3Mark Oram4Nicholas Baxter5John A. S. Manning6Mick Biddle7Kerry Barnard8Daegan Inward9Paul Taylor10Steven Hendry11Ana Pérez-Sierra12Lisa Ward13Forest Research, Plant Pathology Department, Alice Holt Research Station, Farnham GU10 4LH, Surrey, UKForest Research, Plant Pathology Department, Alice Holt Research Station, Farnham GU10 4LH, Surrey, UKForest Research, TSU Exeter Field Station, Haldon Forest, Exeter EX6 7XR, UKForest Research, TSU Exeter Field Station, Haldon Forest, Exeter EX6 7XR, UKForest Research, TSU Exeter Field Station, Haldon Forest, Exeter EX6 7XR, UKForestry Commission, Plant Health Forestry Team, 620 Bristol Business Park, Bristol BS16 1EJ, UKForestry Commission, Plant Health Forestry Team, 620 Bristol Business Park, Bristol BS16 1EJ, UKForest Research, Plant Pathology Department, Alice Holt Research Station, Farnham GU10 4LH, Surrey, UKForest Research, Entomology Department, Alice Holt Research Station, Farnham GU10 4LH, Surrey, UKForest Research, Entomology Department, Alice Holt Research Station, Farnham GU10 4LH, Surrey, UKForest Research, Data and Statistics Department, Alice Holt Research Station, Farnham GU10 4LH, Surrey, UKForest Research, Tree Health Diagnostics and Advisory Service, Alice Holt, Farnham GU10 4LH, Surrey, UKForest Research, Tree Health Diagnostics and Advisory Service, Alice Holt, Farnham GU10 4LH, Surrey, UKForest Research, Plant Pathology Department, Alice Holt Research Station, Farnham GU10 4LH, Surrey, UKSweet chestnut, an Asiatic tree introduced in many parts of Europe including the United Kingdom, is planted for nut production, timber, and amenity. Its major threat is the disease called blight, caused by the fungus <i>Cryphonectria parasitica</i>, which infects through wounds by airborne spores. Field trapping using sticky rods rotating traps was performed in an infected area in Devon (between May 2021 and April 2023). An improved dual hydrolysis Taqman probes real-time PCR was used. The number of spores was calculated by comparing the cycle threshold to the Ct of standards with known amounts of conidia or known target fragment copies cloned into a plasmid. Weekly spore counts were in the range of around 60 to approximately 8.5 × 10<sup>3</sup>, with fluctuations of peaks (mainly in late summer–autumn 2021) and troughs. The effects of weather parameters were modelled, finding correlations between spore numbers and temperature, humidity, dewpoint, rainfall, wind speed, and wind duration. Additionally, an insect trapping was performed to confirm the presence/absence and quantity of <i>C. parasitica</i> conidia potentially phoretic on some insects by using the same molecular approach. None of the ten collected insect species harboured spores of this fungus.https://www.mdpi.com/2309-608X/10/3/181chestnut blightconidiadetectionforecastinginsectsquantification |
| spellingShingle | Pedro Romon-Ochoa Pankajini Samal Tom Pace Tim Newman Mark Oram Nicholas Baxter John A. S. Manning Mick Biddle Kerry Barnard Daegan Inward Paul Taylor Steven Hendry Ana Pérez-Sierra Lisa Ward Forecasting of Airborne Conidia Quantities and Potential Insect Associations of <i>Cryphonectria parasitica</i>, the Causal Agent of Chestnut Blight, in England Journal of Fungi chestnut blight conidia detection forecasting insects quantification |
| title | Forecasting of Airborne Conidia Quantities and Potential Insect Associations of <i>Cryphonectria parasitica</i>, the Causal Agent of Chestnut Blight, in England |
| title_full | Forecasting of Airborne Conidia Quantities and Potential Insect Associations of <i>Cryphonectria parasitica</i>, the Causal Agent of Chestnut Blight, in England |
| title_fullStr | Forecasting of Airborne Conidia Quantities and Potential Insect Associations of <i>Cryphonectria parasitica</i>, the Causal Agent of Chestnut Blight, in England |
| title_full_unstemmed | Forecasting of Airborne Conidia Quantities and Potential Insect Associations of <i>Cryphonectria parasitica</i>, the Causal Agent of Chestnut Blight, in England |
| title_short | Forecasting of Airborne Conidia Quantities and Potential Insect Associations of <i>Cryphonectria parasitica</i>, the Causal Agent of Chestnut Blight, in England |
| title_sort | forecasting of airborne conidia quantities and potential insect associations of i cryphonectria parasitica i the causal agent of chestnut blight in england |
| topic | chestnut blight conidia detection forecasting insects quantification |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2309-608X/10/3/181 |
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