Annual/Termination Reports:

[12/20/2022] [12/14/2023]

Report Information

Participants

Members Present: Paula Agudelo, Emmanuel Byamukama (USDA Representatives); Kathy Lawrence (Alabama); Travis Faske (Arkansas); Zane Grabau, Johan Desaeger, and Abolfazl Hajihassani (Florida); Tristan Watson (Louisiana); Henry Nguyen (Missouri); Adrienne Gorny (North Carolina); William Rutter (South Carolina); Jon Eisenback (Virginia).
Members Absent: Senyu Chen (Minnesota); John Mueller (South Carolina); Tarek Hewezi (Tennessee); Terry Wheeler (Texas)

Brief Summary of Minutes

Kathy Lawrence (chair) welcomed all of the participants and took a group photo. She introduced Paula Agudelo the USDA representative.

Paula Agudelo welcomed everyone to the new project and encouraged everyone to officially join the group through your Agricultural Experiment Station and the NIMS website. She shared the list of official members.

Emmanuel Byamukama updated the NIFA program and gave details about the goals, objectives, and topics. He also discussed the major funding programs and encouraged all to apply.

 

State Reports

Arkansas report – Travis Faske works in soybeans and corn reported on screening soybean for resistance to M. incognita. The top three cultivars have the same genetics. There is an interest in organic soybean production in his state too.

Florida report – Zane Grabau reported on his trials to control M. enterolobii on sweet potato. The Covington variety is susceptible to M. enterolobii and considered resistant to M. incognita. Telone provided the best yield protection. Sweet potato is not a host of sting nematode.

Johan Desaeger focused on vegetables in Central-South Florida 300 samples from 40 crops in 10 counties with M. incognita and M. enterolobii with a few other species. Sun hemp was shown to be a good cover crop for 4 nematode species and Sorghum sudangrass was good for M. enterolobii and M. incognita. Nanidorus minor is causing problems on tomato and strawberry.

Abolfazi Hajihassani discussed distribution and pathogenicity of M. floridensis in Florida on several crops. He reported M. floridensis in Georgia on tomato, watermelon, cowpea, and cucumber and a search for resistance in Solanum spp.   Collard did not appear to be a host for M. floridensis.

Louisiana report – Tristan Watson updated reniform nematode control update with more fields with higher nematode densities and less M. incognita. Resistant breeding lines from Missouri showed good resistance and high yields. Three in-furrow nematicides on sweet potato show Velum to be economically significant in one year but not the next year.

Missouri report Sushil Chhapekar and Henry Nguyen described a new strategy for resistance to multiple races of SCN by overexpressing Peking-type Rhg4 gene.

North Carolina report - Adrienne Gorny gave an update on M. enterolobii in North Carolina with 16 counties, mostly in the heart of sweet potato production. Nematicide trials to control RKN was inconclusive. Eggplant varieties were screened for resistance to M. enterolobii with similar trial on soybean and other crop plants.

South Carolina report - William Rutter reported about work with Ben Waldo on screening with wild citron melon for resistance to M. incognita. Eleven significant SNPs were identified with 4 distinct genomic loci on three different chromosomes. Quantitative resistance compared to GWAS pipeline. 

Virginia report - Jon Eisenback demonstrated the distribution of beech leaf disease nematode and described the plant-nematode relationship. This is the latest invasive species in the US found in Ohio in 2012 now from Maine to Virginia.

Alabama report – Kathy Lawrence showed results from the reniform resistant cotton, sweet potato yields from biologicals and cover crops, and MG4 variety response to soybeans.

 

Summary and final report

Abolfazl Hajihassani volunteered as chair in 2023 and will host the meeting in Ft Lauderdale.

Will Rutter volunteered as vice-chair and will host the 2024 meeting in Charleston.

More members are encouraged to join the meeting.

 

Accomplishments

<p><strong>State Reports</strong></p><br /> <p><strong>Arkansas rep</strong>ort &ndash; Travis Faske works in soybeans and corn reported on screening soybean for resistance to <em>M. incognita</em>. The top three cultivars have the same genetics. There is an interest in organic soybean production in his state too.</p><br /> <p><strong>Florida report</strong> &ndash; Zane Grabau reported on his trials to control <em>M. enterolobii</em> on sweet potato. The Covington variety is susceptible to<em> M. enterolobii</em> and considered resistant to <em>M. incognita.</em> Telone provided the best yield protection. Sweet potato is not a host of sting nematode.</p><br /> <p>Johan Desaeger focused on vegetables in Central-South Florida 300 samples from 40 crops in 10 counties with <em>M. incognita</em> and <em>M. enterolobii</em> with a few other species. Sun hemp was shown to be a good cover crop for 4 nematode species and Sorghum sudangrass was good for <em>M. enterolobii</em> and <em>M. incognita</em>. <em>Nanidorus minor</em> is causing problems on tomato and strawberry.</p><br /> <p>Abolfazi Hajihassani discussed distribution and pathogenicity of <em>M. floridensis</em> in Florida on several crops. He reported <em>M. floridensis</em> in Georgia on tomato, watermelon, cowpea, and cucumber and a search for resistance in <em>Solanum</em> spp.&nbsp;&nbsp; Collard did not appear to be a host for <em>M. floridensis.</em></p><br /> <p><strong>Louisiana report</strong> &ndash; Tristan Watson updated reniform nematode control update with more fields with higher nematode densities and less <em>M. incognita</em>. Resistant breeding lines from Missouri showed good resistance and high yields. Three in-furrow nematicides on sweet potato show Velum to be economically significant in one year but not the next year.</p><br /> <p><strong>Missouri report</strong> Sushil Chhapekar and Henry Nguyen described a new strategy for resistance to multiple races of SCN by overexpressing Peking-type Rhg4 gene.</p><br /> <p><strong>North Carolina report</strong> - Adrienne Gorny gave an update on <em>M. enterolobii</em> in North Carolina with 16 counties, mostly in the heart of sweet potato production. Nematicide trials to control RKN was inconclusive. Eggplant varieties were screened for resistance to <em>M. enterolobii</em> with similar trial on soybean and other crop plants.</p><br /> <p><strong>South Carolina report</strong> - William Rutter reported about work with Ben Waldo on screening with wild citron melon for resistance to <em>M. incognita</em>. Eleven significant SNPs were identified with 4 distinct genomic loci on three different chromosomes. Quantitative resistance compared to GWAS pipeline.&nbsp;</p><br /> <p><strong>Virginia report</strong> - Jon Eisenback demonstrated the distribution of beech leaf disease nematode and described the plant-nematode relationship. This is the latest invasive species in the US found in Ohio in 2012 now from Maine to Virginia.</p><br /> <p><strong>Alabama report</strong> &ndash; Kathy Lawrence showed results from the reniform resistant cotton, sweet potato yields from biologicals and cover crops, and MG4 variety response to soybeans.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p><strong>Summary and final report</strong></p><br /> <p>Abolfazl Hajihassani volunteered as chair in 2023 and will host the meeting in Ft Lauderdale.</p><br /> <p>Will Rutter volunteered as vice-chair and will host the 2024 meeting in Charleston.</p><br /> <p>More members are encouraged to join the meeting.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p>

Publications

Impact Statements

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Report Information

Participants

Members in attendance:
Dr. Paula Agudelo (Administrative Advisor, South Carolina)
Dr. Abolfazl Hajihassani (Chair, Florida)
Dr. William Rutter (Vice-Chair, South Carolina)
Dr. Adrienne Gorny (incoming Vice-Chair, North Carolina)
Dr. Johan Desaeger (Florida)
Dr. Zane Grabau (Florida)
Dr. John Eisenback (Virginia)
Dr. Intiaz Chowdhury (Georgia)
Dr. Chang (Diana) Liu (Mississippi)

Non-members:
Dr. Rudolf Scheffrahn (Professor, UF)
Dr. Rami Kassam (Post doc, Hajihassani lab)
Denis Gitonga (Student, Hajihassani lab)
Jacob Larkin (Student, Hajihassani lab)
Laura Mayorga (Student, Desaeger lab)
David Moreira (Student, Desaeger lab)

Brief Summary of Minutes

• Agudelo- began with a rousing speech describing the importance and structure of the multi-state hatch project.

 

• Although in climate weather and flooding prevented us from taking a full tour of the Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, Dr. Hajihassani was able to show us his nematology laboratory, and Dr. Rudolf Scheffrahn provided and enlightening tour of the termite species collection stored in the building.

 

• Scheffrahn (termite taxonomist) presented his work on termite taxonomy and the commensal pin worms and mermithids that he has found associated with many of these termite species.

 

• Hajihassani began the Florida report, presenting updates on plant parasitic nematode species his lab has found parasitizing tropical fruit tree orchards. Highlights included the prevalence of M. enterolobii on guava and R. reniformis on avocado.

 

• Rami Kassam presented new data on the identification and testing of new potential biocontrol agents that could be used for the management of nematodes in the field.

 

• Denis Gitonga presented updates on his graduate research that includes a survey of nematodes in fruit trees, testing the efficacy of commercial bio nematicides, and the development of a nematode lifecycle-based model for improving nematicide application timing.

 

• Jacob Larkin presented updates on his graduate research investigating the diversity of PPNs on golf turf, and looking at populations and species densities at different soil depths.

 

• Desaeger provided an update on a survey of root-knot nematodes present in different specialty crops planted in Florida. He also presented data on in vitro assay investigating the efficacy of commercial non-fumigant nematicides on different Meloidogyne species. As well as results from field trials investigating the use of different cover crops on different Meloidogyne species.

 

• Laura Mayorga presented updates from her research on environmental factors effecting the survival of the commercial biocontrol agent Purpureocillium lilacinum, as well as the potential for using chitin soil amendments in conjunction lilacinum to control PPNs.

 

• David Moreira presented updates on his research into the use of Anerobic Soil Disinfestation to help organic and low resource farmers control PPNs. Highlights included the potential use of cover crops such as sun hemp as potential carbon sources.

 

• Grabau presented data on the use of Brassica carinata as cover crop to suppress sting nematode in potato production operations. He also presented data on field trials on the use of nematicides to alleviate damage caused by M. enterolobii on sweetpotato.

 

• Rutter presented updates on breeding for resistance to M. enterolobii in sweetpotato and pepper. He also presented data on a new automated imaged-based method for counting root-knot nematode egg samples.

 

• Gorny presented results from ongoing screens for resistance to M. enterolobii resistance in tobacco. She also presented data from nematode surveys conducted on tobacco farms in North Carolina.

 

• John Eisenbach detailed updates on diagnostic morphology of three Meloidogyne species. He also presented information on the lifecycle of the beach leaf nematode. As well as results from his study of using heat treatment to kill pine wood nematode in harvested logs.

 

• Intiaz Choudhury Presented information about ongoing and planned studies on the management of Meloidogyne species in onion. As well as plans for future studies into the use of soil amendments, and studies on the lateral movements of soil nematodes.

 

• Chang (Diana) Liu introduced her newly established laboratory at Mississippi State University. Any graduate students interested in studying in her lab are encouraged to contact her directly: cl2142@msstate.edu

 

 Business Meeting:

• Adrienne Gorny graciously accepted the position of Vice-Chair and tentatively scheduled a meeting somewhere in North Carolina for 2025.

 

• We discussed the possibility of a joint meeting with the NC1197 group. All members in attendance voted in favor of reaching out to try and schedule a joint meeting in Charleston, SC for November 2024.

 

• Everyone unanimously expressed their appreciation for the efforts of Dr. Hajihassani in putting together a successful in person meeting for this year.

 

 

 

 

Accomplishments

Publications

Impact Statements

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