Epicuticular wax on needles was evaluated for its influence on Cronartium ribicola infection of resistant and susceptible selections of Pinus strobus. Environmental scanning electron microscopy comparisons revealed that needles from a resistant selection of eastern white pine, P327, had a significantly higher percentage of stomata that were occluded with wax, fewer basidiospores germinating at 48 h after inoculation, and fewer germ tubes penetrating stomata than needles from a susceptible selection H111. In addition, needles from seedlings that failed to develop symptoms 6 weeks after inoculation, from a cross between P327 and susceptible parent H109, had a significantly higher percentage of stomata occluded with wax compared with needles from seedlings that developed symptoms. In experiments where epicuticular waxes were removed from needles before seedlings were infected, resistant seedlings without wax developed approximately the same number of infection spots (as measured by spot index) as susceptible seedlings with wax intact. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry comparisons of extracted epicuticular waxes revealed several peaks that were specific to P327 and not found in susceptible H111 suggesting biochemical differences in wax composition. These results implicate the role of epicuticular waxes as a resistance mechanism in P. strobus selection P327 and suggest a role for waxes in reducing spore germination and subsequent infection through stomatal openings.

In order to characterize a hypersensitive-like reaction in selected Pinus strobus seedlings to Cronartium ribicola, a proteomic comparison of needles from resistant and susceptible seedlings was undertaken using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE). The results revealed 19 polypeptides specific to resistant seedlings and seven of these specific to infected resistant seedlings. There were 13 polypeptides up-regulated (> or = 3-fold increase) in resistant family P327 in comparison to needle tissue from susceptible and mock-inoculated seedlings. Electrospray ionization liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry was used to sequence 11 proteins from the 2-DE gels. Sequences obtained from electrospray ionization liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry were used for MS-BLAST and Pro-ID database searches allowing identification with a 95 to 99% confidence level. Six proteins were determined to be homologs of proteins with known roles in disease resistance, five were determined to be homologs of members of the leucine-rich repeat (LRR) superfamily, and one was a homolog of heat shock protein 90, a protein that serves as a cofactor for certain LRR proteins. This is the first report of members of the LRR family with functional homologs in Pinus strobus and of a molecular basis for white pine blister rust resistance in Pinus strobus.

Roses in nursery and landscape settings are frequently damaged by black spot, whose causal agent is the fungus Diplocarpon rosae F.A. Wolf. Potassium silicate was assessed as a media-applied treatment for decreasing the severity and incidence of black spot infection. Roses were treated with 0, 50, 100, or 150 mg·L-1 silicon as potassium silicate incorporated into irrigation water on either a weekly or daily schedule. Five weeks after treatments were initiated, plants were inoculated with D. rosae. Roses began to show visual symptoms of infection §4 days later. Roses that had 150 mg·L-1 silicon applied on a daily schedule had significantly more silicon present in their leaves than other treatments as measured by scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive x-ray analysis. In addition, roses that had 100 and 150 mg·L-1 silicon applied on a daily schedule had fewer black spot lesions per leaf and fewer infected leaves than any of the other treatments by the end of the experiment 7 weeks later. Although roses treated with higher levels of silicon on a daily basis fared better than roses in the other treatments, all of the roses were heavily infected with D. rosae by the end of the study. The results reported here indicate that using potassium silicate in irrigation water may be a useful component of a disease management system.

Buddleia davidii Franch. ‘Royal Red’ was grown in pine bark amended with 0.0, 2.4, 4.7 or 9.5 kg/m3 (0.0, 4.0, 8.0, or 16.0 lbs/yd3) dolomitic lime. Growth characteristics responded quadratically to dolomitic lime with those plants receiving 2.4 kg/m3 having the greatest shoot and root dry weights and inflorescence numbers. Plants grown in 4.7 kg/m3 had the greatest shoot lengths. Concentrations of Ca and Mg in leaves of plants grown in containers without dolomitic lime amendment were below that recommended for normal growth of B. davidii. Leaf concentrations of N, S and Mn showed quadratic responses to dolomitic lime additions. Media pH and concentrations of NO3, Al, B, Mn and P also showed quadratic responses. Media Zn concentrations showed a linear response. Although all dolomitic lime amendments tested improved growth of Buddleia davidii ‘Royal Red’, the incorporation of 2.4 kg/m3 produced maximum growth and inflorescence quantity.

Hybrids of Corylus avellana, C. americana and C. cornuta, are being developed as a potential crop for the Upper Midwest of the United States, but little is known about fertilizer nitrogen (N) management. We hypothesized that N application when the bushes were most fully leafed out would result in highest N uptake efficiency (NUE). We used 15N-labeled ammonium nitrate to measure NUE from soil applications in mid-April, late April, late May, early August, and mid-September. Nitrogen applied in either mid- or late April never comprised more than 5% of the total N in shoots or leaves, suggesting that N used for early leaf expansion came primarily from stored reserves. Applications made after April demonstrated that N was quickly translocated to rapidly growing plant parts: May applications comprised 9% of the N in leaves collected in July; August applications comprised 12% of the N in nut kernels collected in September; and September applications comprised 9% of N in catkins collected in October. Nitrogen applied in August and September appeared in new shoots the following April at higher levels than it did aboveground the previous October, showing that N applied late in the season may be stored belowground over the winter. NUE was highest for August and September applications at one site and August and mid-April applications at the other, implying that summer is generally the best time to apply N for most efficient uptake. However, overall NUE was low, only 5% for August applications, suggesting a need to develop other methods of improving NUE in hybrid hazelnuts.