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plant health Archives - Page 7 of 12 - The Global Plant Council

The larva of a tobacco hawkmoth Manduca sexta on a wild tobacco leaf

How plants produce defensive toxins without harming themselves

By | News, Plant Health, Plant Science

Plants produce toxic substances to defend themselves against herbivores. In a new study, scientists were able to describe in detail the biosynthesis and exact mode of action of an important group of defensive substances, the diterpene glycosides, in wild tobacco plants. Diterpene glycosides allow plants to fend off herbivores. The study shows that these plant chemicals attack certain parts of the cell membrane.

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After 100 years, plant pathologists revisit fire blight hypothesis

By | News, Plant Health, Plant Science

Historically credited as being the first bacterium ever characterized as a plant pathogen, fire blight is a bacterial disease that leads to significant losses of pear and apple. The role of insects in the spread of this disease has been long studied. In a new study, plant pathologists take a hypothesis that has been more or less ignored for 100 years and provided support for its validity.

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Wheat disease common to South America jumps to Africa

By | Agriculture, News, Plant Health, Plant Science, Policy

A deadly wheat disease common to Asia and South America has been identified in Africa for the first time, raising fears of potential spread to wheat crops across the continent. Researchers say that the fast-acting and devastating fungal disease known as wheat blast was first spotted in Africa in the Zambian rainfed wheat production system in the 2017-2018 crop cycle.

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​​​​Short-term moisture removal can eliminate downy mildew of spinach

By | Agriculture, Fruits and Vegetables, News, Plant Health

Downy mildew is the biggest threat to spinach production around the world. While the pathogen has a short life cycle (approximately a week), it can produce millions of spores during the spinach growing season. Overhead sprinkler irrigation systems and dew formation on cool nights leads to more moisture, which enables these spores to infect the spinach.

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