Forestry Commission News 10 JUNE 2011
Among the key new tree pests and diseases to emerge in Britain in recent years are Phytophthora ramorum, Phytophthora kernoviae, Phytophthora lateralis, acute oak decline, bleeding canker of horse chestnut caused by the bacterium Pseudomonas syringae ...
Strategy launched to tackle pest and disease threats to Britain's trees
Enhanced Recovery of Phytophthora ramorum from Soil Following 30 Days of Storage at 4°C
Paul W. Tooley, Marie M. Carras
Article first published online: 1 JUN 2011
Chlamydospores of Phytophthora ramorum were used to infest field soil at densities ranging from 0.2 to 42 chlamydospores/cm3 soil. Recovery was determined by baiting with rhododendron leaf discs and dilution plating at time 0 and after 30 days of storage at 4°C, as recommended by USDA-APHIS. Baiting was slightly more sensitive than dilution plating in recovering P. ramorum immediately following infestation of soil and allowed detection from samples infested with as little as 0.2 chlamydospores/cm3 compared with 1 chlamydospore/cm3 for dilution plating. After 30 days of infested soil storage at 4°C, P. ramorum was detected at significantly (P = 0.05) higher levels than at time 0 with both recovery methods. The results indicate that storage of P. ramorum-infested soil at 4°C may allow for pathogen activity, such as sporangia production, which may enhance recovery from soil.
Roaches Estate bilberry plants hit by fungal disease
Bilberry plants at a Staffordshire beauty spot have been infected by a rare fungal disease.
Phytophthora pseudosyringae has killed some plants near Roach End on the Roaches Estate, near Leek. The disease does not harm humans or animals.
People have been asked to help prevent the disease spreading by avoiding contact with the shrubs, although the area remains open to the public.
more....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-13571880
This is Cornwall
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
By Chief Reporter
Some 1,745 hectares (4,300 acres) of Japanese larch has had to be felled in Cornwall, Devon and Somerset to combat the spread of Phytophthora ramorum, a fatal disease first found locally in 2007...
http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/news/Urgent-action-plea-save-forestry-jo...