Publications by authors named "P J Balint-Kurti"

The common rust disease of maize is caused by the obligate biotrophic fungus Puccinia sorghi. The maize Rp1-D allele imparts resistance against the P. sorghi IN2 isolate by initiating a defense response that includes a rapid localized programmed cell death process, the hypersensitive response (HR).

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Gray leaf spot, northern leaf blight and southern leaf blight are three of the most destructive foliar diseases affecting maize (Zea mays L.). Here we identified a gene, ZmCPK39, that encodes a calcium-dependent protein kinase and negatively regulates quantitative resistance to these three diseases.

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Article Synopsis
  • Heterosis, or hybrid vigor, refers to the enhanced characteristics of hybrid plants compared to their parent lines, with recent research highlighting the impact of soil microbes on this phenomenon in maize.
  • The study explored how different soil microbial communities, sourced from active maize farms versus prairies, influenced heterosis expression and found that variations were specific to the local microbial environment.
  • While a nutrient amendment boosted heterosis in agricultural soil conditions, the overall results indicated that while microorganisms do affect heterosis, non-living environmental factors play a more significant role in driving these effects.
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The southern corn leaf blight epidemic of 1970 caused estimated losses of about 16% for the U.S. corn crop, equivalent to about $8 billion in current terms.

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Southern leaf blight (SLB) is a foliar disease caused by the fungus Cochliobolus heterostrophus infecting maize plants in humid, warm weather conditions. SLB causes production losses to corn producers in different regions of the world such as Latin America, Europe, India, and Africa. In this paper, we demonstrate a non-destructive method to quantify the signs of fungal infection in SLB-infected corn plants using a deep UV (DUV) fluorescence spectrometer, with a 248.

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