Soil Disinfestation: From Soil Treatment to Soil and Plant Health.

This feature article tracks 100 years of soil disinfestation, from the goal of eradicating soilborne pathogens and pests to much milder approaches, aimed at establishing a healthier soil, by favoring or enhancing the beneficial soil microflora and introducing biological control agents. Restrictions on the use of many chemical fumigants is favoring the adoption of nonchemical strategies, from soilless cultivation to the use of physical or biological control measures, with more focus on maintaining soil microbial diversity, thus enhancing soil and plant health. Such approaches are described and discussed, with special focus on their integrated use.

Rain-based soil solarization for reducing the persistent seed banks of invasive plants in natural ecosystems - Acacia saligna as a model.

Background: A large persistent seed bank of invasive plants is a significant obstacle to restoration programs. Soil solarization was demonstrated to be an effective method for reducing the seed bank of Australian acacias. However, use of this method in natural habitats might be limited due to the requirement to moisten the soil by irrigation.

Advances in urothelial bladder cancer immunotherapy, dawn of a new age of treatment.

Urothelial bladder cancer displays a high number of somatic mutations that render these tumors more responsive to immunotherapy. Several immunotherapeutic agents were examined in patients with advanced stage urothelial bladder cancer and recently atezolizumab - an (PDL-1) immune checkpoint inhibitor antibody - was approved for the treatment of patients with metastatic disease progressing after platinum combination therapy. Despite the great success, there are still some unanswered questions and ongoing trials that are in progress to define the role of combination therapy and sequencing strategies.

Computational Models of Inhalation Therapy in Early Childhood: Therapeutic Aerosols in the Developing Acinus.

Background: Inhalation therapy targeted to the deep alveolated regions holds great promise, specifically in pediatric populations. Yet, inhalation devices and medical protocols are overwhelmingly derived from adult guidelines, with very low therapeutic efficiency in young children. During the first years of life, airway remodeling and changing ventilation patterns are anticipated to alter aerosol deposition with underachieving outcomes in infants.

Development and Deployment of Systems-Based Approaches for the Management of Soilborne Plant Pathogens.

Biological suppression of soilborne diseases with minimal use of outside interventive actions has been difficult to achieve in high input conventional crop production systems due to the inherent risk of pest resurgence. This review examines previous approaches to the management of soilborne disease as precursors to the evolution of a systems-based approach, in which plant disease suppression through natural biological feedback mechanisms in soil is incorporated into the design and operation of cropping systems. Two case studies are provided as examples in which a systems-based approach is being developed and deployed in the production of high value crops: lettuce/strawberry production in the coastal valleys of central California (United States) and sweet basil and other herb crop production in Israel.

Soil suppressiveness to fusarium disease: shifts in root microbiome associated with reduction of pathogen root colonization.

Soil suppressiveness to Fusarium disease was induced by incubating sandy soil with debris of wild rocket (WR; Diplotaxis tenuifolia) under field conditions. We studied microbial dynamics in the roots of cucumber seedlings following transplantation into WR-amended or nonamended soil, as influenced by inoculation with Fusarium oxysporum f. sp.

Soil Suppressiveness to Fusarium Disease Following Organic Amendments and Solarization.

Soil suppressiveness to soilborne pathogens can evolve following the incorporation of plant residues in the soil and solarization. We studied its occurrence by assessing disease incidence and severity in sandy soil which was infested after the disinfestation treatment. Disease incidence and severity of crown and root rot in cucumber plants inoculated with Fusarium oxysporum f.

Microbial aspects of accelerated degradation of metam sodium in soil.

Preplant soil fumigation with metam sodium is used worldwide to control soilborne diseases. The development of accelerated degradation of pesticides in soil, including metam sodium, results in reduced pesticide efficacy. Therefore, we studied microbial involvement in accelerated degradation of methyl isothiocyanate (MITC) following repeated soil applications of the parent compound, metam sodium.

Accelerated degradation of metam-sodium in soil and consequences for root-disease management.

We studied the development of accelerated degradation (AD) of methyl isothiocyanate (MITC) following repeated applications of its parent compound, metam-sodium (MS). Laboratory studies and four sets of field experiments were conducted during 2002-04 in three commercial fields in Israel. Repeated applications of MS to the three soils in the laboratory under controlled conditions demonstrated AD of MITC in some soils.

Biological Control of Sclerotium rolfsii and Verticillium dahliae by Talaromyces flavus Is Mediated by Different Mechanisms.

ABSTRACT Ten wild-type strains and two benomyl-resistant mutants of Talaromyces flavus were examined for their ability to secrete the cell wall-degrading enzymes chitinase, beta-1,3-glucanase, and cellulase, to parasitize sclerotia of Sclerotium rolfsii, to reduce bean stem rot caused by S. rolfsii, and to secrete antifungal substance(s) active against Verticillium dahliae. The benomyl-resistant mutant Ben(R)TF1-R6 overproduced extracellular enzymes and exhibited enhanced antagonistic activity against S.

Spatial distribution and temporal development of fusarium crown and root rot of tomato and pathogen dissemination in field soil.

ABSTRACT The spatial distribution and temporal development of tomato crown and root rot, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici, were studied in naturally infested fields in 1996 and 1997.

Vegetative Compatibility Groups of Verticillium dahliae in Israel: Their Distribution and Association with Pathogenicity.

A collection of 565 isolates of Verticillium dahliae, recovered between 1992 and 1997 from 13 host plant species and soil at 47 sites in Israel, was tested for vegetative compatibility using nitrate-nonutilizing (nit) mutants. Three vegetative compatibility groups (VCGs) were found and identified as VCG2A (28 isolates), VCG2B (158 isolates), and VCG4B (378 isolates) by using international reference strains. One isolate was heterokaryon self-incompatible.

Combined soil treatments and sequence of application in improving the control of soilborne pathogens.

ABSTRACT The effects of reduced doses of methyl bromide (MB) or metham sodium, heating, short solarization, and soil microbial activity, alone or in combination, on survival of soilborne fungal pathogens were tested in a controlled-environment system and field plots. Sublethal doses of heating or MB delayed germination of Sclerotium rolfsii sclerotia. Combining MB and heating treatments was more effective than either treatment alone in controlling S.

Modeling the survival of two soilborne pathogens under dry structural solarization.

ABSTRACT Structural (space) solarization of a closed, empty greenhouse for sanitation involves dry heating to 60 degrees C and higher and low relative humidity (RH), under a fluctuating temperature and RH regime. Survival of inocula of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp.

Weakening and Delayed Mortality of Fusarium oxysporum by Heat Treatment: Flow Cytometry and Growth Studies.

ABSTRACT Survival of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum following heat treatments was studied using flow cytometric, physiological, and microscopic assays.

Development of crown and root rot disease of tomato under irrigation with saline water.

ABSTRACT We studied the effect of water salinity on the incidence and severity of crown and root rot disease of tomato, as well as on the pathogen and on the plant's response to the pathogen. Irrigation with saline water significantly increased disease severity in tomato transplants inoculated with Fusarium oxysporum f. sp.

Effect of moisture on thermal inactivation of soilborne pathogens under structural solarization.

ABSTRACT Structural solarization of greenhouses for sanitation by closing them involves dry heating to 60 degrees C and higher with a consequent low relative humidity (RH) ( approximately 15%), thus requiring an extended period for thermal inactivation of pathogens. In an attempt to enhance pathogen control by increasing moisture during the hot hours of the day, various regimes of inoculum moistening were studied. However, wetting inoculum of Fusarium oxysporum f.

Controlled laboratory system to study soil solarization and organic amendment effects on plant pathogens.

ABSTRACT A controlled laboratory system for simulating soil solarization, with and without organic amendment, was developed and validated using physical, chemical, and biological parameters. The system consists of soil containers that are exposed to controlled and constant aeration, and to temperature fluctuations that resemble those occurring during solarization at various depths. This system enables a separate analysis of volatiles and other components.

Disease Development Following Infection of Tomato and Basil Foliage by Airborne Conidia of the Soilborne Pathogens Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici and F. oxysporum f. sp. basilici.

ABSTRACT Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici, the causal agent of Fusarium crown and root rot of tomato, and F.

Generation and Dissipation of Methyl Isothiocyanate in Soils Following Metam Sodium Fumigation: Impact on Verticillium Control and Potato Yield.

The fate of methyl isothiocyanate (MITC) was studied in agricultural soils following metam sodium (MS) application in a controlled system and under field conditions as it was related to disease control. Soil samples were collected from 34 field sites in Israel with no history of MS application. The generation and dissipation curves of MITC in these soils, under controlled conditions, varied significantly among the soils, as reflected by the concentration by time (C × T) product.

Health care for the poor--an exploration of primary-care physicians' perceptions of poor patients and of their helping behaviors.

This paper explores the ways in which primary-care physicians in Israel perceive and help poor patients. Our findings are based on a qualitative study that utilized a focus group and in-depth interviews with 16 primary-care physicians who qualified both in Israel and in the former Soviet Union, and who work in community clinics one Health Maintenance Organization serving poor populations of diverse cultural, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds (immigrants from the former Soviet Union and from Ethiopia, Bedouin, ultra-orthodox Jews, the chronic poor, and the 'new' poor). It was found that the physicians presume causality between poverty and health, identify and distinguish between different types of poverty, and make associations based on the type of poverty and type of patient problem.

Temperature Response of Chickpea Cultivars to Races of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris, Causal Agent of Fusarium Wilt.

Use of resistant cultivars and adjustment of sowing dates are important measures for management of Fusarium wilt in chickpeas (Cicer arietinum). In this study, we examined the effect of temperature on resistance of chickpea cultivars to Fusarium wilt caused by various races of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp.

High-nitrogen compost as a medium for organic container-grown crops.

Compost was tested as a medium for organic container-grown crops. Nitrogen (N) loss during composting of separated cow manure (SCM) was minimized using high C/N (wheat straw, WS; grape marc, GM) or a slightly acidic (orange peels, OP) additives. N conservation values in the resultant composts were 82%, 95% and 98% for GM-SCM, OP-SCM and WS-SCM, respectively.

Survival in Soil of Colletotrichum acutatum and C. gloeosporioides Pathogenic on Strawberry.

The survival ability in soil of different inocula of strawberry isolates of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and C. acutatum was studied under laboratory and field conditions. Two isolates of each species used in this study were identified according to morphological characteristics and by molecular techniques.

Role of the Shrub Tamarix nilotica in Dissemination of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici.

The saltcedar shrub Tamarix nilotica grows as a weed in the Arava region of Israel. This weed is commonly found in cultivated fields naturally infested with Fusarium oxysporum f. sp.