[APWG] article on my research

Tue Mar 6 07:32:10 CST 2007

Dear Ailanthus weed busters. Can anyone help Tom network for his graduate
work.  

Are the fungi native or non-native? What is their origin? Thanks.

Marc Imlay, PhD 

Conservation biologist, Anacostia Watershed Society 

(301-699-6204, 301-283-0808 301-442-5657 cell)

Board member of the Mid-Atlantic Exotic Pest Plant Council, 

Hui o Laka at Kokee State Park, Hawaii 

Vice president of the Maryland Native Plant Society, 

Chair of the Biodiversity and Habitat Stewardship Committee 

for the Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club 

  _____  

From: Richard Gardner [mailto:rtgardner3 at yahoo.com] 
Sent: Monday, March 05, 2007 6:30 PM
To: Marc Imlay; Marc Imlay
Subject: LETTER

Marc,

  I hope this works.  Thanks.

                                      Tom

I am a grad student researching biocontol of Ailanthus altissima at the
University of Maryland, College Park.  I have locally seen sapling death
caused by wilt, terminal death of branches and proportionally large
lesionson the trunks/branches of trees.  If you have seen similar, please
drop me a note so I can get samples to identify the pathogen responsible.
Thanks.

                                                           Tom Gardner

rtgardner3 at yahoo.com

Richard Gardner
410.726.3045 (cell)

  _____  

From: Richard Gardner [mailto:rtgardner3 at yahoo.com] 
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 7:38 PM
To: Marc Imlay; Marc Imlay; David C. Straney; Pat Kangas
Subject: article on my research

  Attached is one of two articles on my research.  I have the other one, by
Jay Stipes, in my hand.

  Saturday, I plan to take a couple of core specimens from one of the
lesions from an infected tree on campus and a sample of the cambium from the
edge of the lesion to plate.  My guess from my reading is that the fungi I
am looking for reside in the vascular cambium.  If what I read yesterday is
true, once infection starts, it shoots up the tree at an incredible rate.
>From my own observations, the young trees (1-2 year old) tend to die with
the terminal bud on the sapling dying first.  An interesting question I will
pursue is to find out if the lesions on the mature trees are caused by the
same fungus as the one infecting the saplings.  I may go back to Urbana in
the next week or so to look closer at the mature trees.  Something I read in
the literature tends to suggest that vascular wilts need young tissue to
grow in and will give two different sets of symptoms depending on if the
tree is a sapling or mature.  If this holds true, it limits the pathogens I
am looking at.

  An interesting correlation between the literature and field observations
is that a heterogeneous stand of plants prevents the spread of an endophytic
soil pathothgen.  In the field, I see infected monocultural stands and
uninfected single trees.

  The plates look good.  Right now, I have 16 samples and 2 controls plated.
Several of these samples are on their second culturing to purify the
colonies.  Then it is onto slants.  

  From a description of Fusarium oxysporum wilts in the literature, it
appears that this is what I have growing.  I am also doing a comparison
between infected or dead trees and uninfected live ones.

  I am switching to potato dextrose agar entirely, giving up the maltose
agar because it does not produce as good a set of results.  I also gained
access to small amounts of a few other types of agars and will try them,
including yeast extract.

  If my observations continue in the direction they are going, A. altissima
is an excellent example of a plant's strengths also being its weaknesses.
Fast growth means mostly vertical vascularity with little horizontal
structure.  This means that a wilt will have ample opportunity to go from
the root to the terminal buds (apical meristem?) very swiftly.  At the same
time, monocultural stands of clones offer no barriers to a wilt,
facilitating its spread throughout the whole stand killing all the members
of that stand.

  Seeds should be arriving shortly. (Amazingly, Ailanthus seeds are still
available comercially.)  I have a method from Jay Stipes' short article for
Koch's postulates.

  For now, I have found bench space in one of the teaching prep labs in H.J.
Patterson.

  There is plenty of literature on various varieties of F. oxysporum in the
USDA database.  However, I am not having the same luck with Verticellum.
Tomorrow or thereabouts, I will drop a note to Cornell in this regard.

Tom Gardner

Richard Gardner
410.726.3045 (cell)

Biocontrol Science and Technology 

Publisher:  

Taylor & Francis 

Issue:  

Volume 16, Number 6 / 2006 

Pages:  

547 - 566 

URL:  

<http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/(qe15bt55budfob555up4gg55)/app/home/l
inking.asp?referrer=linking&target=contribution&id=L8L8783709374533&backto=c
ontribution,1,1;issue,1,8;journal,6,73;linkingpublicationresults,1:100635,1>
Linking Options 

DOI:  

10.1080/09583150500531909 

Assessing potential biological control of the invasive plant,
tree-of-heaven, Ailanthusaltissima

Jianqing Ding A1, Yun Wu A2, Hao Zheng A1, Weidong Fu A1, Richard Reardon
A2, Min Liu A1 

A1 Institute of Biological Control, Chinese Academy of Agricultural
Sciences, Beijing, P.R. China
A2 Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team, USDA Forest Service,
Morgantown, WV, USA

Abstract: 

Tree-of-heaven, Ailanthusaltissima, is a deciduous tree indigenous to China
and introduced into North America and Europe. It is a serious threat to
ecosystems in introduced areas, as the plant is very competitive, and also
contains allelopathic chemicals that may inhibit growth of surrounding
native plants. In addition, the plant contains secondary chemicals that make
it unpalatable to some insects. In this paper we assess potential biological
control of this plant by reviewing literature associated with natural
enemies of the plant from both its native and introduced regions in the
world. Our literature surveys revealed that 46 phytophagous arthropods, 16
fungi, and one potyvirus were reported attacking tree-of-heaven, some
apparently causing significant damage in China. Two weevils,
Eucryptorrhynchus brandti and E. chinensis, are major pests of the plant in
China and are reportedly restricted to tree-of-heaven, showing promise as
potential biological control agents. Nymphs and adults of a homopteran
insect, Lycorma delicatula and larvae of two lepidopteran species, Samia
cynthia and Eligma narcissus, may also cause severe damage, but they are not
host specific. Two rust fungi, Aecidium ailanthi J. Y. Zhuan sp. nov. and
Coleosporium sp. have been reported on tree-of-heaven in China and are also
promising potential candidates for biological control of the plant. Nine
insect herbivores and 68 fungi are associated with tree-of-heaven in its
introduced range in North America, Europe, and Asia. An oligophagous insect
native to North America, the ailanthus webworm, Atteva punctella, may be a
potential biocontrol agent for the plant. Among the fungal species, Fusarium
osysporum f. sp. perniciosum, caused wilt of tree-of-heaven in North America
and may have the potential to control the plant, but its non-target effect
should be carefully evaluated. Our review indicates that there is potential
for using insects or pathogens to control tree-of-heaven.

  _____  

Keywords: 

Biological control of weeds, Ailanthus altissima, invasive plant,
Eucryptorrhynchus brandti, Eucryptorrhynchus chinensis, Atteva punctella 

The author's field research leads him to believe that Ailanthus altissima is
dying in North America due to a mixture of insect herbivory and pathogenic
endophytic fungal infections.  The author believes that there are many
insect species using Ailanthus altissima as an energy source and at least
two fungal species infecting the plant.  Field observation in Maryland,
anecdotal evidence and one article from New York City  and work done by Jay
Stipes in Virginia further leads the author to believe that the rate of
fungal infection is enough to either control or eradicate Ailanthus
altissima from North America.  Additionally, the Ailanthus webworm, Atecva
punctata, appears to be a significant herbivore on Ailanthus altissima
leaves.

To this time the following pathogens and herbivores have been identified for
Ailanthus altissima:

fungus: Verticillium wilt (Verticillium albo-atrum), Verticillium dahliae,
Shoestring root rot (Armillaria mellea), Phymatotrichum root rot
(Phymatotrichum omnivorum), Cristulariella moricola, Cristulariella
pyramidalis, Fusarium oxysporum, Botryosphaeria obtuse, Botryosphaeria
rhodina, Cerrena unicolor, Nectria cinnabrina and Ganoderma applanatum.

The insects are: Ailanthus web-worm (Atteva punctella), cynthia moth (Samia
Cynthia, Asiatic garden beetle (Maladera castanea), Atteva fabricella and
Placosphaeria spp. (Magnani 1975).

References

1.	Pirone, P. P. 1959. Tree maintenance, 3d ed. Oxford University
Press, New York. 436 p. 
2.	Baker, Whiteford L. 1972. Eastern forest insects. U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Miscellaneous Publication 1175. Washington, DC. 642 p. 
3.	Goor, A. Y., and C. W. Barney. 1968. Forest tree planting in arid
zones. Ronald Press, New York. 409 p. 
4.	Wright, Ernest, and H. R. Wells. 1948. Tests on the adaptability of
trees and shrubs to shelterbelt planting on certain Phymatotrichum root rot
infested soils in Oklahoma and Texas. Journal of Forestry 46:256-262. 

Misra, R. M. 1978. A mermithid parasite of Attera fabricella. Indian
Forester 104(2):133-134. 

French, W. J. 1972. Cristulariella pyramidalis in Florida: an extension of
range and new hosts. Plant Disease Report 56(2): 135-138. 

Magnani 1975

Stipes, R.J. 1995. A tree grows in Virginia. Va. J. Sci. 46:105.

Feret, P.P. 1985. Ailanthus: Variation, cultivation, and

frustration. J. Arboric. 11(12):361-368.

The Handbook of American Fungi

Diseases of Trees and Shrubs

Insects Which Feed on Trees and Shrubs

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