Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Minutes The joint annual meeting of the WERA-97 and NCERA-184 committees, held at the Red Lion Inn in Idaho Falls, ID from June 26-28, commenced with participants introducing themselves. There were 37 attendees, consisting of 8 members of NCERA-184, 22 members of WERA-97, 5 members of both committees, and two guests. Fifteen US states were represented. The Administrative Advisor of the NCERA-184 Committee, Dr. Kendall R. Lamkey, welcomed the group and discussed the importance of the committee. Dr. Jeffery Stein reviewed the minutes of the 2006 meeting and led discussions on the committee renewal process. Participants reported personnel changes, planned future meetings, and elected new officers for 2008. The NCERA-184 committee decided to meet in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in 2008, while the WERA-97 committee decided to have a joint meeting with the Western Wheat Workers in Davis, CA, after having successful joint meetings with the NCERA-184 group in 2006 and 2007.

On Wednesday, June 27, the general meeting commenced with welcoming remarks from Dr. Robert Zemetra, Chair of the Dept. of Plant Soil and Entomological Sciences, University of Idaho. State reports, along with an update on the IPM-PIPE system provided by Dr. Marty Draper (by way of a conference call), were presented during the morning session. After lunch, presentations on topics of interest were given by Drs. Jim Kolmer (Leaf and Stem Rust), Xianming Chen (Stripe Rust), Dr. Ruth Dill-Macky (Fusarium head blight colonization of residue) Char Hollingsworth (Aster Yellows), Richard Smiley (Nematodes), Mark Sutherland (Crown rot), and Jill Petrisko (Microarray Analysis of a Putative Tyrosine Phosphatase). The presentations were followed by group discussions on the impending threat of the new race of the wheat stem rust pathogen (TTKS) arriving in the US and possible ways of preparing for, and dealing with, its introduction; the spread of aster yellows and the possibility that this disease is being misdiagnosed as BYDV; and the importance of the saprophytic phase of Fusarium graminearum in the development of Fusarium head blight.

On the final day of the meeting, June 28, members of both committees toured the University of Idaho Aberdeen Research and Extension Center. Participants had an opportunity to learn about the USDA-ARS and University of Idaho research programs at the centre. Dr. Juliet Windes talked about Fusarium crown rot research and the wheat breeding program; Drs. Harold Bockelman and Blair Goates led the group on a tour of the small grains germplasm depository; and Drs. Eric Jackson and Maricelis Acevedo led the group on a tour of the rust screening nursery.

Revision of Compendium of Wheat Diseases. A revised version of the Compendium was submitted to APS Press and was accepted for publication in 2007. This venture, undertaken by members of the NCEAR-184 and WERA-097 committees, began in 2005 with the appointment of a five-man team of pathologist and one entomologist. Since then, several rounds of editing and revisions were conducted, with the content being updated substantially and new diseases and pests of wheat included. The success of this effort was due largely to collaboration between the NCERA-184 and WERA-097 groups, facilitated by a joint meeting in South Dakota in 2006. The revised Compendium (the first since 1987) will be of value to all individuals working with wheat, including researchers (all disciplines), extension specialists and agents, wheat breeders, crop consultants, and growers.

Disease Screening Nurseries. Dr. Christina Cowger, Small Grains Pathologist with the USDA-ARS at North Carolina State University will assume leadership of the Stagonospora nursery. At the 2007 meeting, members discussed the importance of maintaining this and other nurseries at a regional level, and plans are in place to work with Dr. Cowger to seek funding to support this effort. The successful wheat stripe rust nursery may be used as a model.

Members of the NCERA-184 continued their involvement with other disease nurseries. Drs. Jeff Stein (SD), Stephen Wegulo (NE), and Bill Bockus (KS) screened regional HRWW FHB nursery; Dr. Gary Bergstom (NY), SRWW FHB nursery; Dr. Ruth Dill-Macky (MN), HRSW and barley FHB nurseries, and Dr. Pierce Paul (OSU), SRWW FHB, Stagonospora and powdery mildew nurseries. Members are also involved with the national stripe rust nursery that allows for changes in the population (races) of the stripe rust pathogen to be monitored.

Fungicide and Biological Control Agent Evaluations. Members of the NCERA-184 are involved with trials to evaluate the efficacy of various fungicides and biological control agents against Fusarium head blight of wheat. These trials consist of the similar treatments applied to multiple classes of wheat (HRSW, SRWW, etc.) at multiple locations (ND, SD, MO, IN, LO). In 2007, the first part of a comprehensive quantitative synthesis of 10 years of research on the efficacy of fungicides against FHB and DON in wheat was published by Drs. Paul (OSU), Lipps (OSU) Hershman (UK), McMullen (NDSU), Draper (USDA-CSREES), and Madden (OSU). The data used in this publication were compiled by members of the NCERA-184 through the US Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative and analyzed by Drs. Pierce Paul and Larry Madden of Ohio State University. Results from this analysis is currently being used to define new research objectives and will aid in the registration of fungicides for FHB and DON control and the establishment of new standards for testing as new active ingredients become available.

In 2007, prothioconazole (Proline) received federal registration for used in wheat to manage FHB and other diseases. To date, this is the most effective fungicide against FHB and DON. Results from uniform fungicide trials conducted by members of the NCERA-184 were instrumental in the successful registration of this product. Working with other members of the NCERA-184, Dr. Erick DeWolfe of Kansas State University used data from uniform fungicide trials to compile a chart on the efficacy of small grain fungicides. This chat was distributed to crop consultants, extension agents, and agronomists at meeting, pesticide applicators training sessions, and Crop Management Field School in several states.

Publications on deoxynivalenol (DON) in Wheat. NCERA-184 members Drs. Marcia McMullen of North Dakota State University, Ruth Dill-Macky of the Univ. of Minnesota and Christine Cowger of NC State collaborated with other plant pathologists, plant breeders, and toxicology specialists to produce a white paper on DON in Wheat. This paper is posted on the US Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative web site, http://www.scabusa.org. Dr. McMullen also collaborated with Dr. Dill-Macky and Dr. Dave Schmale of Virginia Tech, along with other scientists, to produce guidelines on Grain Cleaning for DON Analysis, which also is posted on the UWBSI web site.

Fusarium Head Blight Risk Assessment in Wheat and Barley. FHB risk assessment models are now an important part of integrated management strategies for FHB of wheat; and as effective fungicides become available and registered, extension personnel, crop consultants, and producers will routinely refer to these models to make management decisions. This web-based risk tool, developed by several members of the NCEAR-184 through the UWBSI, was modified in 2006 to include a pilot program that allowed commentary to be entered by the Extension Plant Pathologist from five participating states. The commentaries were intended to provide additional information concerning the FHB risk for that state. In 2007, this effort was expanded to include most of the wheat-producing states for which scab risk assessments are available. Led by Dr. De Wolf of KSU and Dr. Paul of OSU training sessions were conducted via conference calls to teach researcher (with extension appointment) how to upload commentary to the website. In addition, in 2007, the first of a series of experiments were conducted by some members of the NCERA-184 to generate data to add a DON prediction modules to the existing risk tool and to develop mechanistic models for FHB and DON in wheat and barley

The research efforts initiated in 2005 by researchers in the Northern Great Plains (MN, ND, and SD) to examine the environmental factors impacting the development of Fusarium head blight and DON accumulation in malting barley continued in 2007. This project, led by Dr. Stein of SDSU, is being conducted in association with the wheat FHB modeling effort and will attempt to develop models that can be added to the FHB Risk Assessment Tool to assess the risk FHB and DON in barley.

Coordinated Email Discussions. Multiple members of the NCERA184 regularly submitted information on the disease status of the crops in their state to the USDA-ARS Cereal Disease email list serve. These submissions help keep small grains pathologists up to date on the status of the crops in their region as well as around the country. This system is particularly useful for individuals in the Northern Great Plains as the pathogens present in the Southern states often migrate north. Having an idea of what the potential inoculum pressure will be assists with management recommendations.

Update on the Status of Major Diseases. Members were updated on the movement of the new and dangerous race (TTKS) of the wheat stem rust fungus across the globe and the virulence of this pathogen on common resistance gene. The NCEAR-184 and WERA-097 groups discussed way of tracking this pathogen, setting the stage for the development of an action plan for dealing with this race in case it arrives in the US.