Bacterial diversity and composition on the rinds of specific melon cultivars and hybrids from across different growing regions in the United States.

The goal of this study was to characterize the bacterial diversity on different melon varieties grown in different regions of the US, and determine the influence that region, rind netting, and variety of melon has on the composition of the melon microbiome. Assessing the bacterial diversity of the microbiome on the melon rind can identify antagonistic and protagonistic bacteria for foodborne pathogens and spoilage organisms to improve melon safety, prolong shelf-life, and/or improve overall plant health. Bacterial community composition of melons (n = 603) grown in seven locations over a four-year period were used for 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and analysis to identify bacterial diversity and constituents.

First report of cucurbit yellow stunting disorder virus and cucurbit chlorotic yellows virus in melon in the Central Valley of California.

In California, the whitefly-transmitted yellowing viruses, cucurbit yellow stunting disorder virus (CYSDV) and cucurbit chlorotic yellows virus (CCYV), both genus , fam. , have been limited to the Sonoran Desert production regions of Imperial and Riverside counties since their emergence in 2006 and 2014, respectively (Kuo et al., 2007; Wintermantel et al.

Development of an IPM Strategy for Thrips and in Processing Tomatoes in the Central Valley of California.

(TSWV; species ; genus ; family ) is a thrips-transmitted virus that can cause substantial economic losses to many crops, including tomato (). Since 2005, TSWV emerged as an economically important virus of processing tomatoes in the Central Valley of California, in part due to increased populations of the primary thrips vector, western flower thrips (WFT; ). To develop an understanding of the epidemiology of TSWV in this region, population densities of WFT and incidence of TSWV were monitored in California's processing tomato transplant-producing greenhouses and associated open fields from 2007 to 2013.