Clade-Specific Monitoring of Airborne spp. Sporangia Using Mitochondrial DNA Markers for Disease Management of Cucurbit Downy Mildew.

Management of cucurbit downy mildew (CDM) caused by , relies on an intensive fungicide program. In Michigan, CDM occurs annually due to an influx of airborne sporangia and timely alerts of airborne inoculum can assist growers in assessing the need to initiate fungicide sprays. This research aimed to improve the specific detection of airborne sporangia by adapting quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assays to distinguish among clades I and II and in spore trap samples from commercial production sites and research plots.

Application of Target Enrichment Sequencing for Population Genetic Analyses of the Obligate Plant Pathogens and in Michigan.

Technological advances in genome sequencing have improved our ability to catalog genomic variation and have led to an expansion of the scope and scale of genetic studies over the past decade. Yet, for agronomically important plant pathogens such as the downy mildews (), the scale of genetic studies remains limited. This is, in part, due to the difficulties associated with maintaining obligate pathogens and the logistical constraints involved in the genotyping of these species (e.

Detection of Airborne Sporangia of and . in Michigan Using Burkard Spore Traps Coupled to Quantitative PCR.

Cucurbit downy mildew (CDM), caused by the oomycete pathogen , is a devastating foliar disease on cucumber resulting in reduced yields. In 2004, the pathogen re-emerged in the United States, infecting historically resistant cucumber cultivars and requiring the adoption of an intensive fungicide program. The pathogen cannot overwinter in Michigan fields but because of an influx of airborne sporangia CDM occurs annually.