Double lives: transfer of fungal endophytes from leaves to woody substrates.

Fungal endophytes are a ubiquitous feature of plants, yet for many fungi the benefits of endophytism are still unknown. The Foraging Ascomycete (FA) hypothesis proposes that saprotrophic fungi can utilize leaves both as dispersal vehicles and as resource havens during times of scarcity. The presence of saprotrophs in leaf endophyte communities has been previously observed but their ability to transfer to non-foliar saprobic substrates has not been well investigated.

Long-Term Rodent Surveillance after Outbreak of Hantavirus Infection, Yosemite National Park, California, USA, 2012.

In 2012, a total of 9 cases of hantavirus infection occurred in overnight visitors to Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, California, USA. In the 6 years after the initial outbreak investigation, the California Department of Public Health conducted 11 rodent trapping events in developed areas of Yosemite Valley and 6 in Tuolumne Meadows to monitor the relative abundance of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) and seroprevalence of Sin Nombre orthohantavirus, the causative agent of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Deer mouse trap success in Yosemite Valley remained lower than that observed during the 2012 outbreak investigation.

Polyphasic characterization of four new plant pathogenic Phyllosticta species from China, Japan, and the United States.

The black rot disease of Vitis species and other host genera of Vitacease is caused by Phyllosticta ampelicida and allied taxa which is considered to be a species complex. In this paper, we introduce four new species of Phyllosticta, including two from the P. ampelicida complex, based on a polyphasic characterization including disease symptoms and host association, morphology, and molecular phylogeny.

Tall fescue is a potential spillover reservoir host for Alternaria species.

The spread of invasive species is complicated and multifaceted. Enemy spillover (i.e.

Testing assumptions of the enemy release hypothesis: generalist versus specialist enemies of the grass Brachypodium sylvaticum.

The enemy release hypothesis (ERH) suggests greater success of species in an invaded range due to release from natural enemies. The ERH assumes there will be more specialist enemies in the native range and that generalists will have an equal effect in both ranges. We tested these assumptions with the grass Brachypodium sylvaticum in the native range (Switzerland) and invaded range (Oregon, USA).