Publications by authors named "Romina Gazis"

, a genus in the family Botryosphaeriaceae, has a broad host range and causes dieback, root rot, fruit rot, leaf rot, and blights in many plant species across sub-tropical and tropical geographical areas (Alves et al., 2008). In palms, this fungal pathogen is known to cause fruit and heart rot, wood decay and leaf blight around the globe (Atallah et al.

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Laurel wilt (LW), a lethal vascular disease caused by the ambrosia fungus , has severely reduced avocado ( Mill.) production in Florida and decimated populations of native lauraceous trees across twelve U.S.

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Article Synopsis
  • Essential oil-based products, like thyme and savory oil, are being studied as alternatives to copper fungicides for controlling diseases in organic mango orchards.
  • In laboratory tests, thyme and savory oils showed fungicidal effects, while tea tree oil was ineffective.
  • However, in real-world applications, none of the oils successfully prevented anthracnose, and copper hydroxide was still the most effective option, highlighting the limitations of essential oils for this purpose.
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We present a draft genome sequence of Elsinoe perseae, an economically important plant pathogen of commercially grown avocados. The 23.5-Mb assembled genome consists of 169 contigs.

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Thirteen draft genome assemblies are presented for four Colletotrichum gloeosporioides complex species, namely, Colletotrichum aeschynomenes, Colletotrichum asianum, Colletotrichum fructicola, and Colletotrichum siamense, which were isolated from tropical tree hosts as endophytes.

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Liebm. (Araceae, Monocots), sometimes referred to as Swiss cheese plant, is one of the most common aroids used as an indoor and landscape ornamental plant (Cedeño et al. 2020).

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The south Florida pine rocklands is a critically endangered, fire-dependent ecosystem dominated by the overstory tree Pinus densa (South Florida slash pine). Because pine recruitment in this ecosystem has proven problematic, restoration efforts need to include replanting slash pine trees. Even though ectomycorrhizal fungi are known to be critical symbionts of young pines and are necessary for the development of healthy pines, virtually nothing is known about these mutualists and their role in pine establishment and survival in the pine rocklands.

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Symbioses between Geosmithia fungi and wood-boring and bark beetles seldom result in disease induction within the plant host. Yet, exceptions exist such as Geosmithia morbida, the causal agent of Thousand Cankers Disease (TCD) of walnuts and wingnuts, and Geosmithia sp. 41, the causal agent of Foamy Bark Canker disease of oaks.

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One negative consequence of international trade of agricultural commodities is the inadvertent global spread of crop diseases. Yam ( spp.) is a staple food crop in many countries and is traded globally.

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Article Synopsis
  • The genome of the fungus Gams has 43 potential biosynthetic gene clusters for specialized metabolites, but connections between its genes and traits have only been confirmed for cyclosporins and fumonisins.
  • The study cultured the fungus in minimal media with various amino acids and used techniques like LC-MS/MS for molecular networking and analysis, which helped in identifying known and novel metabolites.
  • Researchers isolated and characterized a peptaibol called tolypocladamide H, which showed some antibacterial effects and toxicity towards mammalian cells, while also identifying it as containing a unique structural motif associated with cyclosporins.
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Article Synopsis
  • * A survey of five local orchards identified three main genera of fungal pathogens affecting pitahaya stems, with the most prominent being identified at a significant isolation frequency of 29.8%.
  • * The study found a strong link between severe stem canker infections and increased fruit canker incidence, indicating that early growing season infection can lower the market value of the fruit, especially in the warm climate of South Florida, which supports fungal growth.
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Article Synopsis
  • * Despite advances in technology for identifying fungi, there are still significant gaps in our understanding of their ecological functions.
  • * This review highlights a new database, Fun, which catalogs fungal functional traits and aims to enhance knowledge of fungal ecology by connecting functional diversity with taxonomy and other ecological factors.
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Many aspects of the dynamics of tropical fungal endophyte communities are poorly known, including the influence of host taxonomy, host life stage, host defence, and host geographical distance on community assembly and composition. Recent fungal endophyte research has focused on Hevea brasiliensis due to its global importance as the main source of natural rubber. However, almost no data exist on the fungal community harboured within other Hevea species or its sister genus Micrandra.

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The Corynespora leaf fall disease of rubber trees, caused by the necrotrophic fungus is responsible for important yield losses in Asian and African plantations, whereas its impact is negligible in South America. The objective of this study was to identify potential antagonists of among fungal endophytes (i.e.

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Thousand cankers disease (TCD) results from the combined activity of the fungal pathogen, Geosmithia morbida Kolařík, Freeland, Utley, and Tisserat and its principle vector, Pityophthorus juglandis (Blackman) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) in Juglans L. spp. and Pterocarya Kunth spp.

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Thousand Cankers Disease (TCD) affects Juglans and Pterocarya species. This disease poses not only a major threat to the nut and timber industries but also to native stands of walnut trees. Galleries created by Pityophthorus juglandis (vector) are colonized by the fungus Geosmithia morbida (causal agent of necrosis).

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Thousand Cankers Disease (TCD) of Juglans and Pterocarya (Juglandaceae) involves a fungal pathogen, Geosmithia morbida, and a primary insect vector, Pityophthorus juglandis. TCD was described originally from dying Juglans nigra trees in the western United States (USA), but it was reported subsequently from the eastern USA and northern Italy. The disease is often difficult to diagnose due to the absence of symptoms or signs on the bark surface of the host.

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The ITS (nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer) RefSeq database at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) is dedicated to the clear association between name, specimen and sequence data. This database is focused on sequences obtained from type material stored in public collections. While the initial ITS sequence curation effort together with numerous fungal taxonomy experts attempted to cover as many orders as possible, we extended our latest focus to the family and genus ranks.

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Xylona heveae has only been isolated as an endophyte of rubber trees. In an effort to understand the genetic basis of endophytism, we compared the genome contents of X. heveae and 36 other Ascomycota with diverse lifestyles and nutritional modes.

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Trichoderma harzianum is known as a cosmopolitan, ubiquitous species associated with a wide variety of substrates. It is possibly the most commonly used name in agricultural applications involving Trichoderma, including biological control of plant diseases. While various studies have suggested that T.

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Research on fungal endophytes has expanded dramatically in recent years, but little is known about the diversity and ecological roles of endophytic basidiomycetes. Here we report the analysis of 310 basidiomycetous endophytes isolated from wild and planted populations of the rubber tree genus, Hevea. Species accumulation curves were nonasymptotic, as in the majority of endophyte surveys, indicating that more sampling is needed to recover the true diversity of the community.

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The objective of this study was to identify a group of unknown endophytic fungal isolates from the living sapwood of wild and planted Hevea (rubber tree) populations. Three novel lineages of Tolypocladium are described based on molecular and morphological data. Findings from this study open a window for novel hypotheses regarding the ecology and role of endophytes within plant communities as well as trait evolution and potential forces driving diversification of Cordyceps-like fungi.

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Rigidoporus microporus (Polyporales, Basidiomycota) syn. Rigidoporus lignosus is the most destructive root pathogen of rubber plantations distributed in tropical and sub-tropical regions. Our primary objective was to characterize Nigerian isolates from rubber tree and compare them with other West African, Southeast Asian and American isolates.

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