Current Committee Chair: Frank J. Louws, frank_louws@ncsu.edu
Immediate Past Chair: Leland S. Pierson III, lsp@u.arizona.edu
Current Vice Chair: Stevens M. Brumbley, s.brumbley@mailbox.uq.edu.au
Current Committee Members: Jeri Barak, Gwyn Beattie, Stevens Brumbley, Carolee Bull, John Hartung, Frank Louws, Edward Okey, Shen Quan Pan, Leland S. Pierson III, Brenda Scholz-Shroeder, Kurtis Schroeder, Sheng Yang He
Outgoing Committee Members: Jianchi Chen, Reid Frederick, Alan Poplawsky, George Sundin
Annual Report: Members Present: Stevens Brumbley, Carolee Bull, John Hartung, Frank Louws, Shen Quan Pan, Jianchi Chen
Guests: Linda Thomashaw, Donald Kobayashi, Solke De Boer, Joyce Loper, Dennis Gross, Noel Keen, Malcolm Shurtleff, Norm Schaad, Seong-Hwan Kim, Ron Gitaitis, Carol Ishimaru, Susanne von Bodman, Ching Gsing Liao, Roger Phillippe, Arthur Kelman, Anne Vidaver, Bob Davis, Anwar Rizvi, Anne Alvarez, (others who did not sign in).
I. Welcome and Introductions: The meeting was called to order August 25 at 8:05 p.m. by Frank Louws
II. Committee Chair's Report: (Frank Louws)
A. Electronic communications - We have an active website that is used by OEC and others as an example of how committee websites should be. Thanks to Wes Chun for this useful site.
B. Taxonomy - Considerable discussion has occurred concerning the taxonomy of plant pathogenic bacteria and three letters have been published in Phytopathology including Schaad et al., followed by Vauterin et al and Young et al. From this discussion it is clear we need to interact with the international community in these issues. We have tabled this issue for the time being.
C. Bacteriology Impacts - The committee has been very productive in the last few years being leaders in the use of the web for communications, publication of the Laboratory Manual for the Identification of Plant Pathogenic Bacteria, a productive ad-hoc committee on developing lists of widely prevalent plant pathogenic bacteria, sponsoring various symposia and other APS meetings, dealing with taxonomy issues. The goal of the committee should be to continue activity that has impact. However discussion highlighted the committee should work to enhance the profile of bacterial-related topics at APS to maintain attendance of bacteriologists at the meetings.
III. Current business
A. The 2000 minutes were approved, seconded, and approved by the committee.
B. Carol Ishimaru spoke about the list of Widely Prevalent Pathogenic Bacteria. Norm Schaad has agreed be the new Chair of the adhoc committee. Carol suggested that the Ad hoc status of this group might need to change and become a working group. The committee is now working on list of phytoplasmas. A long-term work agreement is being developed to maintain the accuracy of these lists. The balance from funding from the 1998-2001 work agreements is currently $5363.18.
C. Carolee Bull stated that the ISPP Committee on Bacterial Taxonomy published the Young et al., letter to the editor, is discussing the mission of the group, and has developed a website to further discussions in phytobacterial taxonomy at http://www.isppweb.org/discuss/disc3_welc.htm. It can also be accessed through the committee on bacterial taxonomy link from the ISPP website at http://www.isppweb.org. The discussion form will be operating soon.
Soelke DeBoer is looking for a chair for the ISPP Bacteriology committee and someone to host the 11th international Phytobacteriology meeting.
John Young is leading the effort to publish a second edition of Bradbury's Guide to Plant Pathogenic Bacteria, D. Bacteriology Publications
Projects that are moving ahead were mentioned. The Book on Quorum Sensing was mentioned but not further discussed. Net-based teaching materials for bacteriology will be placed in the Education Center on-line.
More submissions are requested from bacteriology. Carolee Bull has agreed to work with Dennis Gross to come up with a list of topics and begin soliciting phytobacteriologists to submit these. So far Carol Ishimaru has been asked to write an introduction to phytobacteriology and a section on genomics. Solke DeBoer has been asked to write something on Erwinia.
Frank Louws suggested that a section on genomic fingerprinting would be good. Arthur Kelman suggested that we develop a project that could be taken by plant pathologists to every bacteriology department in the country that would allow these departments to complete Koch's postulates in their laboratory classes. We should offer plants and help with the class. Because of the similarities found between human and plant pathogens this could be timely. We should work with the person writing a section on Koch's postulates for this purpose. There was a recommendation that websites should be challenging for students and be interactive.
Anne Alvarez talked about a project she is working on with Malcom Shurtleff. He has written and organized a great deal on diagnostics and Anne has been accumulating images with captions about bacterial diseases. She asked if this publication should proceed and if it is needed. She will be soliciting images from all bacteriologists. We voted in principle to support this work.
Anne also suggested a diagnostics book at an introductory level. It would be a laboratory methods book that would be used by people without the skills to work with Laboratory Methods in Plant Bacteriology. It would be an introductory methods book.
E. Bacteriology Sponsored Symposium
There is a session on Quarum sensing at the meeting this year sponsored by the committee and led by Susanne von Bodman.
IV. New Business
A. Nominations and elections:
Because of the resignation of Carol Ishimaru from the Vice Chair position to become Secretary for APS, it was proposed that Frank Louws maintain the chair for a second year. This proposal was moved and seconded and Frank will be chair for another year.
Stevens Brumbley was nominated and elected to be vice chair of the committee although he said reorganization in his company may change the nature of his work.
The following people were nominated as committee members Claiborn Fuqua, Jay Norelli, and Ing-Ming Lee. Frank Louws said he would be tapping others to be on the committee.
B. Plans for Future APS Meetings: For special session topics for 2002 and 2003 the following topics were discussed:
1. Post genomics
2. Data base mining
3. Diagnostics discussion on real-time PCR for field diagnostics that could potentially be sponsored by diagnostics committee 2002
4. Symposium on surface interactions and biofilms of plant associated microbes 2002.
5. Co-sponsorship with committee for chemical control for biocides for bacterial plant pathogens. 2002
6. Discussion of Pf-5 genome in 2002 and Symposium on all day session on genomics for 2003
It was decided that the following sessions would be promoted
Diagnostics discussion on real-time PCR for field diagnostics that could potentially be sponsored by diagnostics committee 2002
Symposium on surface interactions and biofilms of plant associated microbes 2002. Suggestions were made that this should include the phylloplane and be more about ecological interactions to make it broader in appeal.
A discussion greater than 2 hrs for recently sequenced plant associated bacteria was supported and a small group will get together and plan the session. Pf-5 will still receive a great deal of attention. This group will also plan a symposium or discussion of the meaning of the sequences for the 2003 meeting.
C. Microbial Genomics: Frank Louws forwarded a proposal that an ad-hoc working group be established to manage issues and events associated with the advancing activities in microbial genomics (see addendum). After much discussion, this was accepted and the following members were assigned and/or volunteered to be active on this committee: Stevens Brumbley, Bob Davis, Carol Ishimaru, Noel Keen (or designated representative), Joyce Loper, Frank Louws (short-term facilitator) and Linda Thomashaw. (editors note: the ad-hoc committee met later and developed a plan of action).
We listed the strains that are currently or already have been sequenced (this table is not complete and not guaranteed to be accurate).
Organism Lab leader progress
Pseudomonas fluorescens Pf-5 Joyce Loper Funded 2001
Clavibacter michiganensis subspecies sepedonicus Carol Ishimaru Funded 2001
Clavibacter michiganensis subspecies michiganensis Germany From tomato
Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. vesicatoria Germany From tomato
Ralstonia solanacearum Boucher/France
Agrobacterium tumefaciens Nester
Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (maculicola) DC3000 Collmer Finished
X. citri F. Reinech Finished
X. fastidiosa Simpson Finished
X. campestris pv. campestris Brazil Underway
Sinorhizobium International Finished
X. oryzae pv. oryzae Kuku at Sakuba Japan
E. chrysanthemi Nicole Perna Funded
E c carotovora Ian Toth Proposing
Leafsonia (Clavibacter) Brazil
X. albalineans Suggested
The sequencing priority white paper developed by the Public Policy Board was not discussed and referred to the ad-hoc working group on bacterial genomics.
V. Other Announcements: Norm announced the Pseudomonas syringae meeting (http://www.saspp.co.za/x3_congresses/Pseudom/circularPseudo_1.html)
VI. Addendum: Saturday, August 25, 2001
Proposal to form an ad-hoc committee: International APS-Bacteriology ad-hoc Committee on Bacterial Genomics Background: Multiple labs worldwide have made significant progress to sequence the entire genome of several plant pathogenic and plant-associated bacteria. Whereas, intra-disciplinary and inter-regional competitiveness enhances scientific quality and progress, significant gains are foreseen through a formalized inter-active and collaborative effort. Therefore, the Bacteriology Committee proposes to form an ad-hoc committee on Bacterial Genomics.
This committee will be comprised of international experts in bacterial genomics and will have the following features and tasks:
· be truly international in scope
· formulate a leadership/collaboration structure
· seek to publish a joint paper on Bacterial Genomics and Post-Genomics Applications/Impacts
· formulate an International Symposium on postgenomics and a workshop on database mining for the APS 2002 meeting
· be the direct correspondent for genomics-related activity on behalf of the Bacteriology committee (e.g. APS-Public Policy Board's white paper on microbial genome sequencing).
· seek international opportunities to develop collaborative research and application projects with associated funding
· ensure plant pathogenic and plant-associated bacteria related projects/scholarship has a leadership role in microbial genomics worldwide.
Self-Evaluation: The bacteriology committee has had another highly productive year. The committee sponsored a symposia in 2001 and has been active in publishing materials either through direct or indirect involvement. The committee has active ad-hoc committees on widely prevalent pathogens and microbial genomics, enhancing overall impact of our activities. It is recommended that this committee continue in its function and activities.
BIOCHEMISTRY, PHYSIOLOGY, AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
Current Committee Chair: Thomas J. Wolpert, wolpertt@bcc.orst.edu
Immediate Past Chair: Greg Upchurch, greg_upchurch@ncsu.edu
Current Vice Chair: Andrew Bent , afb@plantpath.wisc.edu
Current Committee Members:
Outgoing Committee Members: Dr. Charles P. Woloshuk, 01, Dr. Martin B. Dickman 01, Dr. Keith R. Davis 01, Dr. Hei Leung /01, Dr. Michael N. Zook 01,
Annual Report: Members present (4): Greg Upchurch, Chair (USDA,ARS.), Tom Wolpert, Vice Chair (Oregon State U.), Tom Mitchell (NC State U.), Marty Dickman (U. Nebraska); Visitors (4): Ray Hammerschmidt (Michigan State U.), Deborah Samac (USDA,ARS), Gary Payne (NC State U.), Rick Bostock (U. California-Davis)
Members and visitors were urged to attend this year's co-sponsored (with bacteriology and genetics) symposium, "Secretion in plant associated bacteria, fungi, and nematodes," organized by Greg Upchurch. The symposium was held Monday, August 27, 1-5 pm in room 251DE Salt Convention Center and was very well attended. Andrew Bent , U. Wisconsin, was nominated for Vice Chair to serve in 2002 and to become Chair at the 2003 meeting. He has graciously accepted the nomination. Nominations for new committee members of persons with interests in the committee were taken from the floor. Those nominated were: Lisa Vaillancourt (U. Kentucky), Woobong Choi (postdoctoral, NC State U.), and Michael Thon (postdoctoral, NC State U.) The committee reviewed the subject proposed for our symposium for the 2002 meeting in Milwaukee WI.
Tom Wolpert agreed to organize the symposium if it is approved by the Program Planning Committee. The approximate title of this symposium is "The role of programmed cell death in plant-pathogen interactions." Two tentative subjects were proposed for a symposium at the 2003 meeting in Charlotte NC. They are: 1) "Post-genomic approaches to the analysis of plant pathogens", and 2) "Genome level analyses of host-parasite interactions" (to be co-sponsored with the Genetics Committee). The committee members were also solicited to participate in the evaluation of the Public Policy Board White Paper's section on the list of fungi of particular interest for genomic sequencing.
Self-Evaluation: Self-Evaluation: Members felt that the committee continues to serve a useful function for APS. By developing timely topics into organized symposia, the committee and its cosponsors help the society membership keep current with the latest concepts and research technologies in pathogen and host-pathogen interactions. The committee also serves as an advisory resource for APS's leadership role in identifying and prioritizing national and international research efforts. Committee performance can always be improved. Efforts will continue to attract a membership that is dedicated, energetic, scientifically representative, and diverse.
BIOLOGICAL CONTROL
Current Committee Chair: William F. Stoneman, billstoneman@home.com
Immediate Past Chair: Caroline Press, pressc@bcc.orst.edu
Current Vice Chair: Brian McSpadden-Gardner , mcspadden-garden.1@osu.edu
Current Committee Members/Terms:
William f. Stoneman - Chair
Brian B. McSpadden Gardner - Vice Chair
Susan M. Boyetchko (2003)
Larry Butler (2004)
Anthony Caesar (2004)
Brion K. Duffy (2003)
Naseem I Khan (2003)
Brian McSpadden Gardner (2003)
Bonnie Ownley (2004)
Caroline M. Press (2003)
Erin N. Rosskopf (2002)
Yasser Shabana (2004)
Virginia O Stockwell (2002)
William F. Stoneman (2004)
Krishna Rao Vanga (2004)
Prem Warrior (2002)
Outgoing Committee Members:, Douglas Gurian-Sherman (2001), Donald Huber (2001), Linda L. Kinkle (2001), David O. TeBeest (2001), Raj S. Utkhede (2001)
Annual Report: Minutes of the 2001 meeting of the APS Biological Control subject matter committee–Salt Lake City, UT
Bill Stoneman as acting chair opened the meeting and explained that C. M. Press was out due to maternity. The minutes of the 2000 meeting were voted on and passed without discussion.
A call for nominations for vice chair were made. Brian McSpadden-Gardner volunteered and was voted in as Vice-Chair for 2002.
The following new committee members were nominated from the floor by nomination or volunteering:
Jim Stack, Gary Yuen, Linda Thomashaw, Charles Bacon, Pamela Adams
Others volunteered during the meeting on a sign-up form circulated, they include:
Danisha Seth, Sarah Savchuk (s), David Weller, Prem D. Kharbanda (s = student member)
Brian McSpadden-Gardner has established a website for the group which previously has not been open to the public. The address is http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/aspbcc/ There are links to past reports, to experts who will only be listed if they submit their own information to Brian, images and a list of commercial products is being developed. The job listings are being dropped because APS has done such a good job. Also meeting summaries will be listed. The issue of infringement on images was discussed.
Brian is on the committee until 2003 and will serve as Webmaster until that time.
2002-list of potential sessions was put together by C. M. Press and the former and new ideas were discussed.
a)A session suggested by Brion Duffy was previously postponed until 2002.
b)The idea of a commercial product presentation was met with enthusiasm. This will be a workshop or teach-in and focus on educating extension members. This will be in Plant Disease Management section. Co-Chairs are Bill Stoneman and Prem Warrior
c)V.O. Stockwell asked that the Biocontrol-in mixtures with chemicals topic be postponed.
d)Linda Thomashow presented an idea on the genomics of P. fluorescens Pf-5. A consortium of researchers would like a 2 hr discussion in 2002 and a full day in 2003 to compare genomes of this organism with P. putida, P. aeurginosa, and P. syringae. This was overwhelmingly approved. This will be in Molecular microbe plant interactions section
e)We were asked to co-sponsor a chestnut blight discussion session by Jane Cummings-Carlson. We agreed to co-sponsor this topic in the biology of pathogens section
f) Deb Fravel from Soil Micro and root diseases committee asked for co-sponsorship for a session on Quantitative aspects of biological control. Bill planned to talk to her and Brion to see if his session could be merged with her idea since there was much overlap.
Yasser Shabana explained IMPECCA and the international effort to control water hyacinth in Africa. Biological methods are being studied or employed there. The website is www.impecca.net.
Self-Evaluation: The APS biological control committee is functioning from the perspective of meeting regularly during the annual meeting to discuss sessions and symposia. There is a lack of activity during the year. Individuals do complete certain activities during the year. One example is the establishment of a website and preparation for sessions for the annual meeting.
As Chairman of the Biological Control subject matter committee for 2001, I am not sure that I will have the time to generate additional activities or functions. I will work with one other member on a proposed session for 2002 if it is accepted by the governance committee.
CHEMICAL CONTROL
Current Committee Chair: Norman Lalancette, lalancette@aesop.rutgers.edu
Immediate Past Chair: Larry Zang, larry.zang@syngenta.com
Current Vice Chair: David Langston, dlangsto@arches.uga.edu
Current Committee Members/Terms:
Randy Gold 07/26/02
Clint Kohls 07/26/02
Timur Momol 07/26/02
Norm Lalancette 07/31/02
David Langston 08/13/03
Phillip Brannen 08/13/04
Richard Cartwright 08/13/04
Julius Fajardo 08/13/04
Robert Kemerait 08/13/04
David Wedge 08/13/04
Francis Wong 08/13/04
Outgoing Committee Members: Danise Beadle 08/24/01, Tim Brenneman 08/24/01, Gilberto Olaya 08/24/01, Larry Zang 08/29/01
Annual Report: The Chemical Control Committee met on August 25, 2001 in Salt Lake City. Attendance was high with 9 of 11 committee members and 5 non-members present. The meeting was called to order by chair Norman Lalancette and vice-chair David Langston at 6:30 PM. Bob Kemerait agreed to take minutes, serving as secretary for the 2001 meeting. Chemical Control Committee agenda was distributed by chairperson N. Lalancette. Phillip Brannen was nominated and elected to serve as vice-chair starting in 2002.
Clint Kohls provided review of the 2001 meeting symposium “Nematicides in the Past, Present and Future”. This symposium, which included six speakers, was organized as a joint session between APS and SON. The Chemical Control and Nematology committees of APS and industry committee of SON acted as sponsors.
Issues related to the chemical control committee and the APS Public Policy Board were discussed. Items discussed / questions posed were (i) there should be an official “voice” on this issue from the APS (ii) who is responsible for drafting such a policy statement? (iii) industry would likely draw on such a statement from the APS (iv) a statement could address how the APS would like to see the Food Quality Protection Act assessed (v) should the APS have a policy when the EPA and pesticides are involved in some public issue? (vi) how involved should members of the APS be involved in the Food Quality Protection Act? and (vii) will a policy statement by the APS help growers obtain the chemical tools that they need to survive?
Possible special sessions were examined for the 2002 and 2003 annual meetings:
(1)FQPA Risk Assessment for Pesticide Control Products
(a) This program could be addressed from an educational standpoint.
(b) Many people are unsure of the actual process that occurs within the EPA.
(c) A program could address dietary and environmental assessments and how data from these two topics are merged to create a label.
(d) Industry toxicology and metabolic end points.
(e) Dr. Kobel, USDA, NC, was mentioned as an individual who can talk about experiences in Washington with the EPA. Also, Paul Lewis might be of importance on this issue.
(f) Kent Smith and Peter Raymond agreed to work on this issue.
(2) IPM Policy and Pesticide Labeling
(a) Changes from the EPA for writing labels, e.g. issues of resistance management and drift management.
(b) It can be important to label a pesticide as beneficial in an IPM program.
(c) How is “IPM” defined based upon nationally accepted criteria?
(d) The Chemical Control Committee will co-sponsor this symposium and discussion with the IPM committee. Sam Alexander (IPM committee chair) has agreed to work on this project.
(3) Innovations in Bacterial Disease Control Materials
(a) Topics could include improvements in copper bactericides, current status of antibiotics, materials that induce systemic activated resistance, biocontrol/biorational materials, and management of bacterial disease through use of plant growth regulators
(b) This symposium would be co-sponsored by the Bacteriology Committee.
(c) N. Lalancette would act as session organizer.
(4) Practical Guidelines for Fungicide Usage
(a) The potential for a symposium or discussion was developed based upon the more applied aspects of disease control using fungicides.
(b) Topics could include pesticide application technology for maximum disease control and reduced drift and specific guidelines and assessments for the use of “tank” mixes, e.g. fungicides, herbicides, and fertilizers.
Other business items brought forth at the meeting:
(i) Members discussed the need for a web page. A decision was made to forgo development at this time.
(ii) Wolfram Koehler is seeking to revamp the APS publication on fungicide resistance management (initially authored by C. Delp).
Self-Evaluation: Interest in the Chemical Control Committee is very high, as evidenced by attendance of non-committee members at the annual committee meeting. The level of cooperation with other committees is also very high. In particular, sessions put forth for the 2002 meeting included co-sponsorship by the IPM and Bacteriology Committees. Recent changes in government regulations (e.g., FQPA), loss of older materials used in plant protection, fewer plant protection choices among growers of "minor' crops, higher public awareness of pesticides, and consolidation of the chemical industry possibly contribute to the interest. Newer strategies for disease control, such as use of plant activators and application of bio-rational materials, may also contribute to committee interest. Members readily volunteer for active participation in committee governance or organization of meeting sessions. Consequently, it is recommended that the chemical control committee continue to function within the APS.
DIAGNOSTICS
Current Committee Chair: Karen Rane, rane@btny.purdue.edu
Immediate Past Chair: Thomas Stebbins, tstebbins@utk.edu
Current Vice Chair: Julie Beale, jbeal@ca.uky.edu
Current Committee Members/Terms:
Jacqueline Mullen 02
Karen Rane 02
Karen Snover 02
Tom Creswell 03
Lindsey du Toit 03
Melodie Putnam 03
David Scott 03
Barbara Abruzs 04
Julie Beale 04
Mohammad Babadoost 04
Ellen Bentley 04
Jason Brock 04
Gary Grove 04
Outgoing Committee Members: Steven Koike, Susan Lerner, Bal Rao, Thomas Stebbins, Margaret Williamson
Annual Report: Activities at the 01 meeting in Salt Lake City:
A. Vegetable Disease Diagnostic Workshop - Lindsey du Toit, Steve Koike
B.Diagnostics Committee Poster –Karen Snover
C.Diagnostics Working Group – Cheryl Smith
D.Diagnostics Quiz –Karen Snove
E.Business Meeting Breakfast –Diagnostics Table
Activities Planned for Milwaukee in 2002 (tentative)
A.Diagnostics Poster- Karen Snover
B.Diagnostics Working Group- Cheryl Smith
C.Diagnostics Quiz Karen Snover
D.Business Meeting Breakfast –Diagnostics Table
E.Real time PCR workshop (co-sponsor with Bacteriology Committee)
F.Abiotic Diseases workshop (co-sponsor with Environmental Quality and Plant Health Committee)
Plant Diagnostics Quarterly - The Diagnostics Committee voted to use the outstanding balance from subscriptions to Plant Diagnostics Quarterly (PDQ) to archive past issues onto CD-rom. Chair-Elect: Lindsey duToit was elected to the post, and she will serve as Chair for the 2003 annual meeting.
Self-Evaluation: The Diagnostics Committee continues to be very active, as evidenced by the excellent attendance of both committee members and interested nonmembers at the committee meeting, and the communication among this group throughout the year. The annual Diagnostics Quiz remains a popular activity at the annual APS meeting. Committee members are dedicated to providing educational opportunities in the field of plant disease diagnostics through workshops and the annual discussion group. The Vegetable Disease Diagnostic Workshop this year was filled to capacity, typical of the interest in committee-sponsored activities. There is every indication that the Diagnostics Committee will remain a viable and active committee of APS in the years to come.
DISEASES OF ORNAMENTAL PLANTS
Current Committee Chair: Gary Chastagner, chastag@wsu.edu
Immediate Past Chair: Anne Bird Sindermann, sindrmns@crosslink.net
Current Vice Chair: James W. Buck, jbuck@gaes.griffin.peachnet.edu
Current Committee Members/Terms:
James W. Buck - August 8, 2003, jbuck@gaes.griffin.peachnet.edu
Gary A Chastagner - August 13, 2003, chastag@wsu.edu
Ann Brooks Gould - August 8, 2003, gould@aesop.rutgers.edu
Mary K. Hausbeck - August 8, 2003, hausbec1@pilot.msu.edu
James C. Locke - August 8, 2003, jlocke@asrr.arsusda.gov
Gary W. Moorman - August 8, 2003, gmoorman@psu.edu
Anne Bird Sindermann - August 8, 2003, sindrmn@crosslink,net
Ann R. Chase - August 13, 2004, mtakum@aol.com
Raymond A. Cloyd - August 13, 2004, rcloyd@uiuc.edu
Maria R. Corral - August 13, 2004, rocorral@ucdavis.edu
Jeffery H. Dobbs - August 13, 2004, jeff@akorn.net
Janet L. Hall - August 13, 2004, jhall@eckeranch.com
Chuanxue Hong - August 13, 2004, chhong@vt.edu
Outgoing Committee Members: David L. Clement, Stephen R. Vann, John E. Watkins,
Annual Report: Nineteen people attended the Diseases of Ornamental Plants Committee meeting at Salt Lake City. Following introductions, the Committee discussed program ideas for future APS meetings. These included:
A. 2002 in Milwaukee, WI
- Discussion Session "Product development in the ornamental market” to be organized by Ann Chase
B. 2003 in Charlotte, NC
- Discussion Session “New disease challenges brought about by changing production technologies” to be organized by Gary Moorman
- Discussion Session “Pathogen free production material-Rediscovering the wheel” to be organized by Jean Williams-Woodward
- Ornamental field tour to be organized by Mike Benson
C. 2004 in Long Beach, CA
- Ornamental field tour
James Buck and Jeffrey Dobbs then discussed the development of a Committee web page. There was also a discussion about the Society of American Florists, Initiative Task Force, Project Impact, and a number of committee members planned on attending a meeting the next day with representatives of the SAF Task Force to provide feedback on this proposed initiative.
James Buck was elected to serve as the new vice-chairperson and three people indicated an interest in being nominated to serve on the Committee.
Self-Evaluation: This committee is well attended and continues to organize topical sessions and filed tours of interest to the APS membership. A continuation of this committee is recommended.
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND PLANT HEALTH
Current Committee Chair: Charles Krause, krause.2@osu.edu
Immediate Past Chair: Peter Gay, fnpag@uaf.edu
Current Vice Chair: Steve Shafer, svann@uaex.edu
Current Committee Members/Terms:
Charles R. Curtis (2002)
Michael Simini (2002)
Peter Gay (2002)
Tim Shubert (2003)
Steve Shafer (2003)
George Smith (2003)
Steve Vann (2003)
Charles Krause (2003)
Jose Chavarria (2004)
Cheryl Lennox (2004)
Outgoing Committee Members: : Russell Bulluck, James Kotcon, Matthew Krause, Jana Lamboy, Mani Skaria
Annual Report: The Environmental Quality and Plant Health Committee (EQHPC) met Saturday, August 25, 2001. Five members attended the meeting (Peter Gay, Mike Simini, Charles Curtis, Tim Schubert, Mani Skaria). Peter Gay was the chair. The 2001 EQPHC sponsored symposium, "Phytoremediation and Plant Health" was to be held August 29 from 1-3:30 pm.
The committee members in attendance discussed plans for a teach-in entitled, "Diagnosis of Abiotic Diseases" to be submitted to the Program Committee for inclusion as a teach-in in Milwaukee. Proposed speakers were discussed. Potential speakers (participants) include Marjorie Daughtrey (Ornamentals), Gail Ruhl (Diagnostician), Bob Weidlinfield (Saline), John Scaley (air pollution particulates). Charles Krause will organize and chair the session. Discussion also occurred suggesting publication of the teach-in in Plant Health Progress following the meeting. This session will be co-sponsored by the Diagnostics Committee and the Diseases of Ornamental Plants Committee.
The EQPHC will also be co-sponsoring two symposia for 2002. We are co-sponsoring a symposium entitled "Forces that Shape Pathogen Populations in the Forest System" which is sponsored by the Forestry Committee. We are also co-sponsoring a symposium entitled "New Disease Challenges Brought about by Changing Ornamental Production Technologies" which is sponsored by the Diseases of Ornamental Plants Committee.
Plans were discussed for a proposed discussion for 2003 entitled "Interactions Between Causal Agents of Abiotic and Biotic Diseases". In addition, a co-sponsored workshop was suggested for the 2003 meeting with the Mycotoxicology Committee on the topic of indoor air quality. The working title is "Mycotoxins and Human Health". All proposals were submitted to the Program Committee.
Steve Vann was elected Vice Chair for 2001-2002.
Self-Evaluation: The Environmental Quality and Plant Health Committee has an active and diverse membership. The committee usually sponsors at least one special session each year, averaging between 50-100 attendees. They provide a service to APS by presenting unique sessions such as abiotic stress diagnostic workshops and teach-ins, symposia on pesticide fate, irrigation water quality, and urban plant pathology that are relevant and well attended. The committee now has ten members and at least one candidate member. Membership continues to develop and present new ideas each year. I recommend that the committee should continue to exist.
EPIDEMIOLOGY
Current Committee Chair: Karen Garrett, kgarrett@plantpath.ksu.edu
Immediate Past Chair: Bill Pfender, pfenderw@ucs.orst.edu
Current Vice Chair: Sarah Pethybridge, sarah_jp@utas.edu.au
Current Committee Members/Terms:
Sukumar Chakraborty 2002
Gregory Forbes 2002
Jianjun Hao 2002
Hai Su 2002
Sarah Pethybridge 2003
Bill Pfender 2003
Bo Wu 2003
Karen Garrett 2003
Eric DeWolf 2004
Jim Marois 2004
Asimina Mila 2004
Forrest Nutter 2004
Peter Oudemans 2004
Outgoing Committee Members: Keith Emery, Neal Evans, Carla Thomas, Soumaila Sanogo
Annual Report: At the 2001 APS meeting in Salt Lake City, the epidemiology committee presented the second in an annual series of Statistical Epidemiology Workshops. The workshop was entitled Time Series Analysis; it was presented jointly by Harald Scherm and Larry Madden, with organizational support by Nik Grunwald. Registration for the workshop filled quickly, and it was very successful. The presenters have made workshop materials available on the Internet.
The Epidemiology Committee also co-sponsored a symposium on Spatial and Temporal Scaling, organized by the Plant Disease Losses Committee.
Program plans for the 2002 APS meeting in Milwaukee were discussed and refined. The Committee will present a Statistical Epidemiology Workshop on the topic of Meta-analysis; Karen Garrett will organize the session. The Committee will host the Melhus Symposium of graduate student research for the 2002 APS meeting. Bill Pfender will organize the session. A symposium on New Applications of Statistical Tools in Plant Pathology will be presented at the 2002 meeting. The symposium will focus on problem-solving, rather than statistical theory, and will be organized by Karen Garrett.
The Epidemiology Committee also voted to co-sponsor a Forest Pathology Committee session on chestnut blight, and a Phyllosphere Biology Committee session on scale in time and space.
Suggestions for Epidemiology Committee sessions at the 2003 meeting were:
epidemiology of introduced diseases and vectors, genetically modified
crops and epidemiology, and bridging theoretical and applied epidemiology.
Self-Evaluation: The Epidemiology Committee has been successful as measured by attendance and participation in the committee meeting and in annual meeting workshops and symposia. With its committed leadership, active member participation, and a growing interest within the Society in applied aspects of epidemiology, the Epidemiology Committee expects to continue its contribution to APS in the future.
FOREST PATHOLOGY
Current Committee Chair: Linda Haugen, lhaugen@fs.fed.us
Immediate Past Chair: William J. Otrosina, wotrosina@fs.fed.us
Current Vice Chair: Glen Stanosz,
Current Committee Members/Terms:
Members Appointed Serves until
Kerry Britton 97 01
Julia Kerrigan 98 01
Linda Haugen 98 03
Susan D. Cohen 98 01
Diane Bannwart 98 01
Richard C. Hammelin 98 01
Pauline Spaine 98 01
Louis Bernier 98 01
Jim Walla 98 01
Bill Otrosina 96 02
Paul Zambino 99 02
John Kliejunas 99 02
Johann Bruhn 00 03
Richard Hunt 00 03
Glen Stanosz 00 03
Pierluigi Bonello 01 04
Matteo Garbelotto 01 04
Ned Klopfenstein 01 04
Joe O'Brien 01 04
Outgoing Committee Members: Kerry Britton, Julia Kerrigan, Sue Cohen, Pauline Spaine, Jim Walla, Dianne Bannwart
Annual Report: The Forest Pathology Committee sponsored a field trip to Logan Canyon and vicinity where various forest diseases such as dwarf mistletoe, annosum root disease, and rust diseases. The very successful and informative field trip was led by Fred Baker, Utah State University, Logan. During 2001, the committee, through APS, sponsored a highly successful international on-line symposium on exotic pests, with Kerry Britton presiding. Our committee also sponsored a symposium entitled: "Toward Understanding Ecological Interactions of Forest Dwelling Microbes at the Landscape" was held during the APS meeting in Salt Lake City, August 2001. For 2002, several symposia and discussion sessions are proposed by the Forest Pathology Committee addressing important and timely issues that are critical to our nation's forest resources. Among these discussion sessions or symposia dealing with diverse topics such as chestnut blight, sudden oak death, an outreach session for the farm industry, forces shaping microbial populations in forest ecosystems, and a follow-up session on the on-line symposium on exotic pathogens mentioned earlier. Many of these topics are co-sponsored by committees such as Biology of Pathogens, Regulatory Plant Pathology, Ornamentals, Biocontrol, Epidemiology, and Mycology Committees.
Activities regarding exotic pests extend to working with APHIS regarding Solid Wood Packing Material risk assessment. Also, the committee is contributing to Larry Madden's non-indigenous plant pathogens list. This list is designed to assist APHIS in its efforts and our committee is reviewing current information on forest pathogens and updating or correcting information contained in the list.
For 2002, the Forest Pathology Committee also plans a two-day field trip hosted by Glen Stanosz. Additionally, Carla Thomas volunteered to host and help develop a website for our committee. Linda Haugen currently will be the APS contact for the website. Other communications efforts related to forest pathology involve several listservs such as www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/fhwebsites.htm and www.umaine.edu/fes/classes/int256/home/web_sites.htm. These enhance the committee's outreach activities and further illustrate the Forest Pathology Committee's active role as a resource in all aspects of forest health.
Self-Evaluation: The Forest Pathology Committee is a pro-active group involved in all aspects of forest health issues, including research, teaching, extension, and exotic pests. Our involvement in APS meetings as evidenced by our active sponsoring and participation in symposia, discussion sessions and other outreach activities continue to meet the needs of the forest health community and other interested groups.
GENETICS
Current Committee Chair: Tobin Peever, tpeever@wsu.edu
Immediate Past Chair: David Francis, francis.77@osu.edu
Current Vice Chair: Scott Gold, sgold@arches.uga.edu
Current Committee Members/Terms:
David Francis(01)
Seogchan Kang (01)
F.N. Lee (01)
Jack Rasmussen (01)
Rebecca Nelson (01)
Scott Gold (02)
Gretchen Kuldau (02)
Tobin Peever (02)
Craig Liddell (02)
Guo-Liang Wang (03)
Jeff Lehman (03)
Outgoing Committee Members/Terms: David Francis(01), Seogchan Kang (01), F.N. Lee (01), Jack Rasmussen (01), Rebecca Nelson (01)
Annual Report: Attendance at 2001 Meeting. Greg Douhan, Frank Martin, Ravi Bhat, Scott Gold, Tobin Peever, Anthony Glenn, Xianming Chen and Yue Jin.
Election of Vice-Chair. Scott Gold served as vice-chair during 2001 and has assumed duties as chair following the Salt Lake meeting. Seogchan Kang was elected vice-chair for 2001-2002 and will serve as chair in 2002-2003.
New Members. Five new members started service with the committee at the Salt Lake City meeting. They are:
Greg Douhan, UC Davis
Ravindra Bhat, UC Davis
Sophien Kamoun, Ohio State
Anthony Glenn, USDA, Georgia
Yue Jin, South Dakota State
Members Nominated. Four persons were nominated for membership at the Salt Lake City meeting. They include Maria Garcia-Pedrajas, Robert Bowden, Frank Martin and Dave Rizzo.
2001 Symposia. Our committee sponsored two symposia at the Salt Lake City meeting. The first was entitled "What is a Fungal Species?" and was cosponsored by the APS Mycology committee and MSA. The second was entitled "Genomics of Plant Pathogens: Current Status". Both symposia were well attended and well received. Unfortunately, the room size was much too small for the "What is a Fungal Species" symposium and many people were turned away at the door.
Future Symposia. Several potential symposia topics were proposed for next year's meeting. They included: "How many genes does it take to make a pathogen?" (proposed by Anthony Glenn, "Molecular and Ecological Aspects of Pathogen Fitness" (proposed by Jeff Lehman), and "Large Scale Analysis of gene expression in plant-pathogen interactions" (proposed by Seogchan Kang). The committee decided to go ahead with the first and last of these proposals and presented these topics at the 2001 planning meeting in Salt Lake city. Both topics were well received by representatives of the subject matter committees and received the most votes in the "Biology of Plant Pathogens" section. Based on this level of support, it is anticipated that these symposia will go ahead for the Milwaukee meeting.
White Paper on Fungal Genome Sequencing. The committee spent a substantial amount of time this year preparing a "White Paper for Fungal Genome Sequencing" for the APS National Policy Board. Other APS committees have also contributed to this effort. Tobin Peever polled the committee membership and submitted a list of plant-pathogenic fungi to O.W. Barnett, which represented the consensus view of the committee. After substantial discussion at the 2001 APS meeting, Scott Gold has been following up and coordinating an effort to produce a consensus list from several APS committees.
Report prepared by Tobin Peever, Immediate Past Chair, APS Genetics Committee, October 11, 2001
Self-Evaluation: Both symposia sponsored by the APS Genetics Committee at the 2001 annual meeting were well-received and had high attendance which reflects well on the relevance of our contribution the scientific content of the annual meetings. In fact, the room assigned for the "What is a Fungal Species"? symposium was far too small to accommodate those wanting to attend. The room capacity was approximately 100 persons but at least twice that number tried to attend. In addition, we experienced several technical problems such as a bulb blowing out on the slide projector and lack of a microphone, which marred what was otherwise an excellent session. We recommend that all rooms be checked by APS staff to ensure that the audio-visual equipment is installed and running before each session. We also recommend that a spare bulb be provided with each projector.
The committee successfully recruited 5 new members to replace those rotating off this year. One of the committee's strengths is the breadth of research interests and organism specialization and this has been reflected in the excellent proposals for symposia on extremely diverse topics, which we have put forward. One of the challenges faced by the committee has been to recruit more senior researchers as has been mentioned in previous reports. During the past 2 years, we have managed to recruit several senior scientists but the bulk of the committee consists of younger scientists. Attendance at the 2001 meeting was rather poor with only 8 of 16 members attending. Several members indicated that they would be unable to attend due to other commitments such as harvesting field research plots.
The success of our contributions to the APS annual meetings has been quite evident during the past several years and we recommend that the committee be continued as currently defined.
HOST RESISTANCE
Current Committee Chair: Anne Dorrance , dorrance.1@osu.edu
Immediate Past Chair: Judy Thies , jthies@awod.com
Current Vice Chair: Jim Kolmer , jkolmer@cdl.umn.edu
Current Committee Members/Terms:
Xianmen Chen (2003)
Michael J. Clements (2003)
Chandrasekar S. Kousik (2003)
Thomas A. Zitter (2003)
Beatriz Perez (2004)
Claude Thomas (2004)
Henry Ngugi (2004)
Fleet Lee (2004)
Margaret Redinbaugh (2004)
Raymond Schneider (2004)
Outgoing Committee Members: Kristine Crabtree, Phyllis Himmel, Gregory Tylka, Juliet M. Windes, Ida E. Yates
Annual Report: The APS Host Resistance Committee and the SON Plant Resistance Committee co-sponsored a symposium entitled “Spectacular Resistance Crashes: Accidents Waiting to Happen”, held on Tuesday, August 28 from 1 to 4pm at the 2001 APS/SON/MSA Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah. Two of the four symposium speakers were non-APS members: David Lightfoot, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL; Chris Mundt, APS member, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR; Sharlene Matten, US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC; and Jeff Wilson, APS member, USDA-ARS, Tifton, GA. The annual committee meeting was held Saturday, August 25th, in Salt Lake City. The Host Resistance Committee proposed sponsorship of two special sessions for next year’s annual meeting to be held July 27-31, 2002 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Titles of the proposed sessions are: Comparison of Molecular Marker Technologies and How They Can Be Used in Breeding Programs” and “Challenge of Increasing Crop Biodiversity” (co-sponsored with the Collections and Germplasm Committee). The Host Resistance Committee considered the pros and cons of hosting a committee website. Anne Dorrance (Chair) agreed to survey committee members regarding their opinions and ideas regarding a Host Resistance Committee website.
Self-Evaluation: The committee recommends its continuation because of sustained involvement of the general APS membership in committee activities. Several committee members and guests attended the committee meeting. The committee co-hosted a symposium that was well received and well attended, indicating that the committee addressed issues of interest to APS members. Eight individuals were nominated for committee membership during the past year, suggesting strong interest in the committee by APS members.
INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT
Current Committee Chair: Greta Schuster, gschuster@mail.wtamu.edu
Immediate Past Chair: Greta Schuster, gschuster@mail.wtamu.edu
Current Vice Chair: Samuel Alexander, salex@vt.edu
Current Committee Members/Terms:
William Brown 2003
Albert Culbreath 2003
Lorianne Fought 2003
Harold Scherm 2003
Simon Shamoun 2003
Samuel Alexander 2003
Scott Heuchelin 2004
Kenneth Pernezny 2004
Jennifer Riggs 2004
Edward Sikora 2004
Outgoing Committee Members/Terms: Daniel Egel 2002, George Smith 2002, Narjess Zriba 2002, Greta Schuster 2002
Annual Report: Chairman Greta Schuster called the meeting to order at 8:05 pm. She introduced her self and vice-chair, Sam Alexander. An attendance sheet was passed around. General introductions of meeting attendees were made.
In attendance were: Greta Schuster, Sam Alexander, Jennifer Riggs, Vince Morton, Bill Brown, Scott Heuchelin, Ken Pernezny, Kate Everts, Harald Scherm, Clint Kohls, Ed Sikora and Jesse Dublin.
Reports: A quick review of the 2000 IPM Session was done. Everyone agreed attendance and subject matter was well received. Chairman Schuster reminded everyone of this year's IPM symposium. It will be held Tuesday morning, 9:30 - 12:30 am, room 151G. The title of the symposium was "Economics of IPM versus Traditional Pest Control." A special thanks was given to Lorraine Fought for her efforts in pulling this symposium together. Lorraine Fought and her husband, Daniel, are working the IPM committee's APS web page. Any suggestions or ideas were welcomed. The IPM committee had created a statement concerning Biotechnology. Vince Morton passed the statement to Sue Tolin at the 2000 annual meeting. Dr. Tolin as a representative of the NPPB was to present statements to the APS Council. The outcome concerning this matter was unknown. Sam Alexander agreed to look into this matter and report back.
New Business:
I. Cynthia Ash, APS Headquarters' staff, was to attend and give a brief update concerning the Plant Health Progress. She was unable to attend.
II. Sponsorship and/or support of discussions or special sessions was discussed and voted on by the membership. Four titles and subjects were presented.
1. IPM Labeling was a subject discussed at the 2000 annual meeting. This discussion would be co-sponsored by the Chemical Control Committee. Possible speakers suggested were Joe Kovach, entomologist, and Harold Coval, pathologist. The program in Wisconsin and Walt Stevenson as a speaker was also mentioned.
2. Integrated Bacterial Disease Control. This would be co-sponsored with the Bacteriology committee. Actigard/Messenger were mentioned as potential subject matter.
3. Plant Diseases that are Impacting Poor Framers in Developing Countries. This would be co-sponsored with the International Programs committee. Jesse Dubin attended and spoke in behalf of this subject. Bill Brown volunteered to work on this session if approved.
4. Disease Resistance Management - DMI, Strobulrins & new Botryticides. This would be co-sponsored by the Pathogen Resistance committee.
A discussion of each subject matter was held. Each member was given the opportunity to vote for two of the subjects. The leadership will support the top two subject matters at the Tuesday planning meeting for the APS Annual Program of 2002. The vote follows:
1. IPM Labeling - 5 votes
2. Integrated Bacterial Disease Control - 3 votes
3. Plant Diseases that are Impacting Poor Framers in Developing Countries - 5 votes
4. Disease Resistance Management - 1 vote
III. Two ideas were discussed for the 2003 Annual meeting: 1) IPM Strategies for Bacterial Diseases - methods, chemicals, cultural; and 2) GMO issues - What Plant Pathologists Propose as an IPM Compatible Resistance Strategy to EPA Upon the Introductions of GMO.
IV. A dialogue followed on the length of terms for the chair and vice-chair of the committee. It was decided to keep it as it is presently. The terms are one year as each, vice-chair, chair, and immediate past-chair.
V. Nominations were held for the vice-chair position. Lorraine Fought was nominated and elected unanimously for the vice-chair position. Discussions were held concerning membership activities. Several people in attendance signed up for membership.
Self-Evaluation: The committee recommends continuation "as is." The committee meeting was well attended, reflecting continued interest among committee members and non-members. Symposia/Discussion Session hosted and co-sponsored by the chemical control, industry, and private practice committee's has been well received and well attended, suggesting the committee has been addressing issues of importance to the general membership. There were several new applicants for committee membership.
MYCOLOGY
Current Committee Chair: Carol M. Stiles, cstiles@ufl.edu
Immediate Past Chair: Marc A. Cubeta, marc_cubeta@ncsu.edu
Current Vice Chair: Weidong Chen, w-chen7@uiuc.edu
Current Committee Members/Terms:
Richard E. Baird 2002
Daniel J. Royse 2002
Marc A. Cubeta 2002
Maria L. Boyd 2003
James C. Correll 2003
Darin M. Eastburn 2003
Stephen B. Goodwin 2003
Lusike Wasilwa 2000-2003
Carol M. Stiles 1997-2003
David B. Chalkley 2004
Weidong Chen 2004
Semra Demir 2004
Outgoing Committee Members: Harold Corby Kistler, Lisa J. Vaillancourt, Frank M. Dugan
Annual Report: Members of the Mycology Committee provided substantial input on;
1) Issues regarding public policy such as transgenic plants and microorganisms and funding for genomics of plant associated microorganisms (Plant Pathology Board, J. Sherwood)
2) Threatening pathogen list (L. Madden)
3) Center for Agricultural Microbes: Pathogens, Parasites and Symbionts (S. Slack and R. Humber)
4) White paper document on microbial genome sequencing (Plant Pathology Board, O.W. Barnett). A revision of the white paper document is currently in progress with members of the Biochemistry, Genetics, Mycology and Mycotoxicology committees.
Darin Eastburn volunteered to serve as the Mycology Committee coordinator and liaison to the Office to Electronic Communication (OEC). Darin attended the OEC meeting in Salt Lake City and will formulate a plan for designing a website for the Mycology Committee.
The Mycology Committee sponsored a discussion session, symposium and workshop at the meeting in Salt Lake City. Each event was well attended and comments from the participants were very positive.
Symposium: (Organizers T. Peever and S. Goodwin, joint sponsorship with Genetics Committee and MSA, "What is a Fungal Species".
Workshop: (Organizer D. Chalkley, joint sponsorship with Professionalism, Outreach, Service Committee and MSA, "Fungi and Indoor Air Quality".
Discussion session: (Organizer, C. Stiles, joint sponsorship with Professionalism, Outreach, Service Committee and MSA, "Teaching Mycology in a Plant Pathology Curriculum".
The Mycology Committee has agreed to co-sponsor two symposia at the 2002 Meetings in Milwaukee; 1) Sudden Oak Death with the Forestry Committee and 2) Fungi That Produce Toxins and Airborne Spores with the Mycotoxicology Committee. A symposium on Mechanisms of Fungal Speciation for the 2003 meeting in Charlotte has also been proposed.
Carol Stiles, Frank Dugan and David Chalkley have continued their activities on the Widely Prevalent Phytopathogenic Fungi Working Group with Karel Jacobs and Anwar Rizvi.
Self-Evaluation: The Mycology Committee contributed significantly to the Program in Salt Lake City and continues to provide input concerning pertinent mycology-related issues in APS. Two of the current members of the Mycology Committee (Marc A. Cubeta and Carol M. Stiles) serve on the Phytopathology Committee in MSA. Carol Stiles, the current chair, is also the APS liaison to MSA. Currently the committee is composed of 12 members, with two people nominated for membership. The dedication and hard work of the committee members have been greatly appreciated and the continuation of the Mycology Committee is therefore recommended.
MYCOTOXICOLOGY
Current Committee Chair: Gary Munkvold, munkvold@iastate.edu
Immediate Past Chair: Frances Trail, trail@pilot.msu.edu
Current Vice Chair: Anne Desjardins, desjarae@mail.ncaur.usda.gov
Current Committee Members/Terms:
Hamed K. Abbas 02
Kenneth E. Damann 02
Nancy Keller 02
Frances Trail 02
Gary Munkvold 04
David Schisler 03
Anne Desjardins 03
Ruth Dill-Macky 04
Jeannie Gilbert 04
Gary Odvody 04
Daniel Panaccione 04
Arthur Schaafsma 04
Dimitrios Tsitsigiannis 04
Gary Windham 04
Outgoing Committee Members: Charles Bacon 01, Peter Cotty 01, Jonathan Duvick 01, Marcia McMullen 01, David Wilson 01, Charles Woloshuk 01
Annual Report: Special Sessions at the 2001 APS meeting and beyond. The committee sponsored one special session: Mycotoxins: Achieving Food Security and Food Quality, 9 am - 12:30 pm, Tuesday, 28 August. The session was well attended but exact numbers are not available.
The next special session will be at the 2002 meeting. Anne Desjardins volunteered to organize a session on airborne mycotoxigenic fungi in plant and human disease. Additionally, we have proposed two symposia for the 2003 Annual meeting. One is Impacts of new and emerging mycotoxins on agriculture and health; another is Importance of trichothecene mycotoxins in plant and human diseases, both of which will be organized by Gary Munkvold. The committee also decided to compete for funds to sponsor the Melhus graduate student symposium in 2003. Art Schaafsma prepared the special session request form and will organize the symposium if our proposal is approved by APS. Fungal genomics: The committee discussed the APS priority list for fungal genomics, and the inclusion of both Fusarium graminearum and Fusarium verticillioides. The committee agreed that both species are high priorities and differ sufficiently that they both should be included on the APS list. Anne Desjardins summarized arguments in favor of this position and this information was related to Scott Gold, Univ. of GA, who is preparing the list at the request of OW Barnett.
The Mycotoxicology Committee Website: Past chair Frances Trail has prepared material for a committee website, but currently we do not have a webmaster within the committee to load the information on a server. A call for volunteers was made, unsuccessfully.
Vice-chair election: No election was held because the committee has a two-year cycle for chair and vice-chair. In 2002 we will elect a vice-chair to serve in 2003 and 2004, and this person will be chair in 2005 and 2006.
Committee nominations: Due to time constraints, there was no call for nominations. The chair's goal is three new committee members to start in 2002. The chair has received three nominations. Additionally, it is proposed that Immediate Past Chair Frances Trail be retained as a committee member until July 2002, because of the two-year chairmanship cycle in this committee.
Self-Evaluation: The committee had a large turnover in membership this year. The current members are active researchers and enthusiastic committee members. Ideas for special sessions are numerous and members are willing to volunteer for committee activities.
NEMATOLOGY
Current Committee Chair: William crow, wtcr@ufl.edu
Immediate Past Chair: Charles Johnson, spcdis@vt.edu
Current Vice Chair: Melissa Goellner, mgoelln@unity.ncsu.edu
Current Committee Members/Terms:
William Crow, 2002
Don Dikson, 2002
Joseph Esnard, 2002
Charles Johnson, 2002
Stephen Lewis, 2003
Melissa Goellner, 2004
Greg Tylka, 2004
Outgoing Committee Members: James LaMondia, Terry Niblack, Robert Riggs, Bhisham Singh
Annual Report: New membership for the committee was discussed. New members nominated were Melissa Goellner, Greg Tylka, and John Veremis. John Veremis was not eligible because he is not an APS member. However, if he becomes a member he can be nominated again next year. Melissa Goellner was nominated and elected vice-chair for 2002.
The topic of a session to sponsor at the next APS meeting was discussed. James LaMondia suggested the topic of "nematodes on ornamental plants". This topic was voted on and accepted by the committee. Several speakers and ideas were discussed related to this topic. Foliar nematodes on nursery stock seems to be increasing in importance. It was suggested that molecular diagnostics of foliar nematodes in international trade be one topic. It was also suggested that a panel discussion with representatives from the nursery industry and regulatory agencies discuss regulatory issues. Nematode management for landscape plants was another topic that was suggested. The committee decided that a discussion format be pursued. The committee also decided that funding from APS not be sought for the Discussion Session.
Self-Evaluation: The Nematology Committee decided that they continue as an active committee of the APS.
PATHOGEN RESISTANCE
Current Committee Chair: Tim Brenneman, arachis@tifton.cpes.peachnet.edu
Immediate Past Chair: Paul Lewis, Lewis.Paul@epamail.epa.gov
Current Vice Chair: Hendrik Ypema, ypemah@basf.com
Current Committee Members/Terms:
Tara Chand-Goyal (2004)
K.L. Crabtree (2002)
Alex Diner (2004)
Steve Jeffers (2003)
Patty McManus (2003)
Ronald Romero (2002)
Sally Schneider (2004)
Katy Stevenson (2004)
Jennifer Yocum (2004)
Outgoing Committee Members: Wolfram Koeller, George Leavitt, Richard Raid, Francis Wong, Gilberto Olaya,
Annual Report/MINUTES: The meeting was called to order by chairman Paul Lewis with the following members present: Paul Lewis, Tim Brenneman, Hendrik Ypema, Jennifer Yocum, Steven Jeffers and Katherine Stevenson. Attending as visitors were Richard Raid, David Wedge, Meg McGrath, Sally Schneider, Gilberto Olaya, and Frank Wong.
Introduction and Approval of the Agenda: Paul Lewis gave a short introduction about the purpose of the committee and asked for approval of the agenda. The agenda was approved unanimously.
Review and Approval of the Minutes of the 2000 Annual Meeting In New Orleans, LA: Paul Lewis gave an overview of the organization of the symposium on 'Antimicrobial Resistance: A Cross-Cutting Issue facing Agriculture and Public Health', to be held on Wednesday August 29 from 1 to 4:30 PM and encouraged everyone to attend. A press release was also prepared by the APS media/outreach center. Paul Lewis announced that the APS Public Policy board had requested APS committees submit public or science policy issues that may be of relevance to the plant pathology board. Paul Lewis forwarded the topic of antimicrobial resistance to the board. The topic of initiating fellowship program in regulatory agencies or Congress was submitted as well, and Paul Lewis is waiting to hear back from the board. The topics submitted were approved by the committee.
Gilberto Olaya provided an overview of the status of the symposium and book on Pathogen resistance. Gilberto Olaya informed the committee that Wolfram Koeller is planning to organize a symposium to initiate writing and publication of the book. A tentative date and location mentioned was November 2002 in Geneva, NY. The committee agreed to support Wolfram with this initiative. Paul Lewis asked whether the book should focus on resistance in North America or worldwide. The committee was in favor of focusing on fungicide resistance in North America as opposed to worldwide. Concern was expressed as to whether APS would be willing to sponsor a meeting outside of its designated APS-meeting locations; especially the seminar would be for a limited number of invitees only. In addition concern was raised if support would be asked from federal agencies, the announcement would have to be listed in the federal register and attendance also cannot be limited.
The committee discussed layout of the symposium and book and agreed to have the symposia and resulting book organized in two symposia and book volumes. Symposium 1 and book volume 1 would focus on resistance to fungicides. Symposium 2 and book volume 2, to be organized at a later date will focus on genetically modified organisms and bactericides. The group agreed to this set-up to keep the symposium attendance and speakers focused. Paul Lewis agreed to forward the committee's opinions and findings to Wolfram Koeller and APS, and inform APS about the committee's intent to support a future event on GMO's and bactericides.
Program planning for 2002 APS Annual Meeting in Milwaukee: Paul Lewis informed the committee about its intent to support a workshop concerning 'funding for agricultural research', with a summarization in 2003. Also the new edition of the book on 'fungicide resistance in North America' will be promoted. No other topics were proposed for 2002 so far. Hendrik Ypema asked whether the committee should seek support for an activity in 2002 or 2003 that focused on the new EPA-regulations on pesticide resistance, implementation of the new legislation and impact of proposed manufacturers' activities on the development of pesticides. Paul Lewis replied that he would propose this topic in the 2002 Annual Meeting Program Planning session. The committee supported this initiative.
Election of Vice Chair Elect: Katy Stevenson was nominated unanimously by the committee to be the vice-chair elect in 2002, vice-chair in 2003, and to chair the committee in 2004.
Other Business: Paul Lewis asked about the status of the WebPages of the Pathogen Resistance Committee. Frank Wong informed the committee that he has been in touch with the respective APS group concerned with WebPage design and learned that APS already had designed a web page with good general information. Katy Stevenson and Frank Wong proposed to represent the committee to learn about the latest APS policies and developments on committee WebPages. The committee supported this initiative unanimously.
New business: Meg McGrath and David Wedge were nominated to become members of the pathogen committee and the nomination was accepted unanimously. Other potential new members proposed were Guido Schnabel and Willy Wilson. Paul Lewis and Tim Brenneman agreed to approach both.
Self-Evaluation: Recommendation for continuation.
PHYLLOSPHERE MICROBIOLOGY
Current Committee Chair: Chris Mundt, mundtc@bcc.orst.edu
Immediate Past Chair: Chris Mundt, mundtc@bcc.orst.edu
Current Vice Chair: Steve Lindow, icelab@socrates.berkeley.edu
Current Committee Members/Terms:
Kenneth B. Johnson 02
Ozlem Kilic 02
Steven Lindow 04
Julien Mercier 02
Odile Carisse 03
Barry J. Jacobsen 03
P. Lawrence Pusey 03
Brian D. Shaw 03
Christopher C. Mundt 03
Vern J. Elliot 04
Walter F. Mahafee 04
Gary Y. Yuen 04
Outgoing Committee Members: Donald Aylor, Jonathan P. Hubbard, Ralph L. Nicholson, Virginia O. Stockwell, Harvey C. Hoch
Annual Report: Activity of the Phyllosphere Microbiology Committee during this past year was primarily oriented toward organizing the symposium "Involvement of the Fungal Extracellular Matrix in Host Infection, under the very capable leadership of Ralph Nicholson. Our committee meeting in Salt Lake City focused mostly on ideas for subject matter sessions in future APS meetings. Our committee will be requesting a symposium on Spatial Scale and Phyllosphere Processes in 2002, to be organized by Chris Mundt and Linda Kinkel. Donald Aylor, Steven Lindow, Chris Mundt and Chris Upper have already committed to speaking in this symposium, if approved. Several ideas were discussed for sessions in 2003 and beyond. Barry Jacobsen will pursue the idea of a session regarding methodology used to conduct studies in the phyllosphere. Virginia Stockwell and Steve Lindow will examine the possibility of a session regarding food safety issues and the phyllosphere. Gary Yuen will look into a possible session on "cross communication" between those working in the rihizospere and those working in the phyllosphere. Another possibility may be to sponsor a session on model systems for studying phyllosphere processes, e.g., Pseudomonas syringae.
Self-Evaluation: Our committee has played a very traditional role by focusing on sponsorship of high-quality scientific sessions. Phyllosphere microbiology is of very substantial importance in plant pathology, but relatively little is known at this point in time. Our committee brings together a diversity of disciplines relevant to phyllosphere processes, including epidemiologists, ecologists, molecular biologists, and microbiologists. This diversity enables us to address the wide range of topics that are relevant to phyllosphere microbiology. Sessions sponsored by our committee have been very popular. For these reasons, we recommend that the Phyllosphere Microbiology Committee be continued.
PLANT PATHOGEN AND DISEASE DETECTION
Current Committee Chair: Laurene Levy, laurene.e.levy@aphis.usda.gov
Immediate Past Chair: Robert Martin, martinrr@bcc.orst.edu
Current Vice Chair: Andre Levesque, Levesqueca@EM.AGR.CA
Current Committee Members/Terms:
Laurene Levy(02)
Andre Levesque(03)
Neil Glynn(03)
Jun Xia(03)
Nancy Robertson(04)
Elizabetta Vivoda(04)
Michael Sulzinski(04)
Renee DeVries-Paterson(04)
Jim Beck(04).
Outgoing Committee Members: Robert Martin(01), Prem Kharbanda(01), Steven Jeffers(01), Vernon DeHerrera(01).
Annual Report: The meeting was called to order at 8:05pm. The first order of business was to review the agenda proposed, and it was approved unanimously. Laurene discussed some of the decisions reached by the committee last year and their implications were discussed. The biggest change in the past year was the official name change of the committee. At the suggestion of the committee convened at the APS meeting in New Orleans, the Plant Disease Detection Committee renaming was suggested to the APS Council and appropriately renamed: The Plant Pathogen and Disease Detection Committee. The committee members and guests were urged to attend the special session sponsored by the committee entitled: The Use of Conserved Sequences for Plant Pathogen Detection. The session was held on Wednesday, August 29, from 1:00-4:30pm and had attendance from 80-120 at anytime during the session despite the lateness of the session. Special session topics for future meetings were discussed:
Special session topics from the 2000 committee meeting in New Orleans were discussed. A hands-on workshop for 2003 was proposed in 2000 and again this meeting. The suggested title was the Latest technologies in plant pathogen and disease detection. During limited discussion the committee decided that a hands-on detection workshop should be planned for a duration of 2-3 days, and offered at the USDA-APHIS-PPQ-CPHST, Plant Germplasm Quarantine and Biotechnology Laboratory in Beltsville, MD during the winter or early spring of 2003. The committee would seek the support and co-sponsorship from other committees and inquire as to additional resources from APS Headquarters. The idea was unanimously approved and will be developed further.
A discussion was proposed for the 2002 annual meeting entitled Quality Assurance: Moving Toward ISO 17025 Certification. Greg Lamka of Pioneer Hybrid discussed the significant ongoing effort being made by their company, as a result of the international seed trade association standards, to complete this certification. Mike Tiffany also mentioned that Agdia, most likely, will need to go through this process since clients will eventually request ISO certified services and materials from their company. Suggested subtopics were: Discussion of international issues regarding ISO certification (e.g. NAPPO representative).
-Discussion of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency experience with QA/QC and ISO certification.
-Discussion of QA/QC, ISO and the seed industry (e.g. Pioneer Hybred).
-Implications for commercial/government disease diagnostics (e.g. Agdia).
-Discussion of parameters and resources needed from an ISO certification specialist.
It was unanimously agreed to postpone the Lab on a chip symposium until 2003 since the ISO certification issue appears to be more urgent. The following themes were proposed for the Chip symposium:
-Electronic DNA/Protein microarrays (Motorola)
-Electronic Sensor Technologies: Sniffer/biosensors (Caltech)
-Miniaturized HPLC
-Disposable blood analysis chip (I-Stat)
-Integrated PCR lab on a chip (Allan Northrup, Greg Kovak, John Argon)
For 2004, although a title was not agreed upon, the following theme was suggested as a symposium or a discussion: The implication of highly sensitive detection assays on decision for phytosanitary issues, IPM and epidemiological studies.
Web page construction: The committee felt that finding a volunteer to update the web page content was the limiting difficulty at the present time. The committee agreed to start with a very modest web page where content would be simple: A list of members with hot links to their own web pages, if available, and the committee report. Bob Martin and Yannis Tzanetakis agreed to undertake this initiative.
Vice Chair-elect: Nancy Robertson.
Nominations for the committee: Yannis Tzanetakis, Douglas Luster, Jason Barnett.
The following people also will be contacted: Reid Frederick, Clarissa Maroon, Adib Rowhani.
Self-Evaluation: The Plant Pathogen and Disease Detection Committee is a very active committee composed of several cross-discipline scientists that are involved in the development and use of new and novel identification, detection, and differentiation methods for plant pathogens. Our committee is interested in providing the latest up-to-date information, concepts, and trends on disease and pathogen detection. This year’s special session educated other plant pathologists on the value of conserved sequence use in detection of plant pathogens. This was a timely concept given the commitment of our society to the elucidation of plant pathogen genomes. Since our committee members are actively involved in evolving technologies in the field of detection, more activity during the year was desirable, so it was agreed that more frequent contacts between members would occur by our communication of choice, E-mail. Six new members joined the committee this year, and six more will be considered for nomination.
PLANT DISEASE LOSSES
Current Committee Chair: William Turechek, wwt3@cornell.edu
Immediate Past Chair: Sukumar Chakraborty, sukumar.chakraborty@tag.csiro.au
Current Vice Chair: Susan Fitzsimmons, Susan_Fitzsimmons@ich-us.com
Current Committee Members/Terms:
Jack C. Comstock (02)
Clayton A. Hollier (02)
Sukumar Chakraborty (02)
Jie Guan (03)
Gareth Hughes (03)
Matthew Royer (03)
William W. Turechek (03)
John E. Lundquist (04)
Laurence V. Madden (04)
Susan E. Fitzsimmons (04)
Outgoing Committee Members: Allen Wrather (01), Forrest W. Nutter, Jr. (01)
Annual Report: The committee sponsored or co-sponsored several sessions in 2001. These included the Melhus Graduate Student Symposium entitled 'New Frontiers in Plant Disease Losses and Disease Management'; 'Application of GIS and GPS Precision Agriculture Technologies in Nematology and Plant Pathology'; and 'Spatial and Temporal Scaling in Epidemiology and Crop Loss Research'. The Committee discussed the development of a web page and nominated Bill Turechek to develop it. The web page is now in construction and can be viewed at http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/pp/faculty/turechek/PDL.html. This will be considered as our "splash page", a very basic web page that provides the minimum information for that committee. The committee, via Forrest Nutter, is in the process of compiling a "Public Policy" response. The committee is proposing the following sessions for the 2002 Annual Meeting: 1) Quantification of Plant Disease Stress and Modelling Crop Loss, a workshop sponsored by Nutter; and 2) Managing Risk to Minimize Crop Loss, a symposium to be organized by Turechek, Hughes, and Royer. Sponsoring committees would be the Regulatory, Epidemiology, & APS Special Committee to Assess the Threat of the Introduction of Non-Indigenous Plant Pathogens to the US. We anticipate the Proceedings to be published in Plant Health Progress. The committee will serve as co-sponsor for the following proposed sessions: 1) Statistical Epidemiology Workshop: Meta Analysis, the leading sponsor is the Epidemiology committee. Our interest in this workshop is that the use of meta analysis would be illustrated using crop loss data. 2) Plant Diseases Impacting Poor Farmers in Developing Countries, the leading sponsor would be the Office of International Programs.
Self-Evaluation: The Plant Disease Losses Committee has been a very active committee from the standpoint of sponsoring and organizing special sessions. There is a need, however, to increase the visibility of the concept of plant disease losses both within and outside APS. Our committee is taking steps to be more proactive in this regard by recruiting new members and by organizing oral and poster sessions under the heading of "Plant Disease Losses". The Plant Disease Losses Committee has developed a web 'splash page' and this will serve to promote our committee activities.
The Plant Disease Losses Committee does not support a merger with other APS Committees. Plans have been made to draft a Plant Disease Losses Mission Statement for the Committee.
POSTHARVEST PATHOLOGY
Current Committee Chair: William S. Conway, ConwayW@ba.ars.usda.gov
Immediate Past Chair: Jerry A. Bartz, jabar@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu
Current Vice Chair: Wojciech J. Janisiewicz, wjanisie@afrs.ars.usda.gov
Current Committee Members/Terms:
Jerry A. Bartz (2002),
William S. Conway (2003),
David Kendra (2002),
Wojciech J. Janisiewicz (2004),
James E. Adaskaveg (2003),
Edwin M. Imai (2003),
Peter G. Sanderson (2003),
James L. McEvoy (2004),
Themis J. Michailides (2004),
Dov B. Prusky (2004),
Joseph L. Smilanick (2004),
David Sugar (2004),
John Zhang (2004)
Outgoing Committee Members: Gerald J. Holmes, Benny D. Bruton
Annual Report: Once again this year, the Committee sponsored the Postharvest Pathology Discussion Group, which met just prior to our Committee Meeting. It was decided that the Committee would continue to sponsor this Discussion Group as it is an excellent way to keep abreast of the latest research in the area of postharvest pathology. The Discussion Group would continue to meet just prior to the Committee Meeting to help increase attendance at the Committee Meeting. The Committee also discussed the possibility of setting up a website but had some questions concerning this endeavor. Concerns centered on design and maintenance of the site. A subsequent meeting of committee chairs resulted in information on establishing a "splash page" for our committee. This possibility will be investigated further. The Committee also discussed various potential topics for a Special Session to be presented during the APS Annual Meeting in Milwaukee. The topic dealing with food safety received the most votes. The title for the proposed Special Session is "Detection and Management of Foodborne Human Pathogens on Fruits and Vegetables". Wojciech Janisiewicz, Vice-Chair, and I attended the APS 2002 Annual Meeting Program Planning meeting and presented our proposed Special Session under the section "Epidemiology/Ecology/Environmental Biology". It was favorably received and we are awaiting notification of its acceptance as a part of the 2002 APS program. The Committee also proposed Special Session topics "Molecular Basis for Virulence in Fruit" and "Resistance Management of Postharvest Disease Control" for the 2003 APS program. The Special Session, co-sponsored by the Biological Control Committee, entitled "Enhancing Microbial Biocontrol of Postharvest Fruit Pathogens" organized by Wojciech J. Janisiewicz and presented at the APS Meeting this year was very well received with over 200 scientists in attendance. The members of our committee would like to thank the speakers, W. J. Janisiewicz, S. Lindow, H. Jijakli, A. El Ghaouth, J. Usall, and D. Sugar for their excellent presentations. Finally, it was proposed by Joseph Smilanick that a resolution be passed to acknowledge the many significant contributions of two recent retirees, Eldon Brown and Joseph Eckert, to the area of Postharvest Pathology research. The possibility of establishing a graduate student travel fund to honor these two outstanding scientists will also be investigated. The Pathology Committee adopted a two year rotation for the Chairman and Vice-Chairman positions, so William S. Conway and Wojciech J. Janisiewicz will continue as Chair and Vice-Chair, respectively, for the 2002 APS Annual meeting in Milwaukee.
Self-Evaluation: The Postharvest Pathology Committee continues to be very active. At the 1999 APS Annual Meeting in Montreal, we sponsored the Special Session entitled "Food Safety-Meeting the Challenge. This year, the Committee sponsored the very well-attended Special Session entitled "Enhancing Microbial Biocontrol of Postharvest Fruit Pathogens", and we have proposed a Special Session entitled "Detection and Management of Foodborne Human Pathogens on Fruits and Vegetables" for the APS Annual Meeting next year in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Committee will continue to sponsor the Postharvest Pathology Discussion Group and will hold its business meeting following the presentation of annual research reports by the Discussion Group. The Committee is also investigating the possibility of developing a webpage to allow those interested in the postharvest pathology area to exchange and acquire information. Due to the continued accomplishments of this Committee, we recommend that it be continued as an active subject matter committee.
SEED PATHOLOGY
Current Committee Chair: Chet Kurowski, c.kurowski@earthlink.net
Immediate Past Chair: Anne Alvarez,
Current Vice Chair: Lisa Shepherd,
Current Committee Members: Alyson Thornton, Michael Tiffany, Ron Walcott, Wayne Wiebe, Chester Kurowski, Patrick Fenn, Lisa Shepherd, Charles Block, Susan Koehler, Tom Kucharek, Betsy Randall-Schadel, Mike Meadows
Outgoing Committee Members: Hacene Bouzar, Anne VanBuren, Anne Alvarez
Annual Report: Phyliss Himmel, Stefanie Autrey and Kimberly Gwinn were new nominations for the committee. A change in the duration of terms for Chairs and Vice Chairs was approved by the committee. The chair and vice-chair will now serve two year terms. The hope is that this will bring more continuity to the committee. The committee is getting closer to having a web site. Anne Alvarez initiated this project and now Charlie Block is currently exploring other options for the website. The committee has formed a small subcommittee to put together a seed pathology workshop for the APS meeting in 2002. The National Seed Health System has been formally approved now is focusing on identifying methods which can be used as reference methods for the specific seed borne diseases. Updates from ISHI and ASTA activities were discussed. Progress is being made by ISHI in identifying methods for seed borne diseases. Other discussions were briefly made on the use of reference material for seed testing, a request was made from Dr. Larry Madden to for the committee to review a list of diseases not found within the United States or found in sporadically within the USA. Karen Arthur of Gustafson, invited all to attend a biennial karnal bunt and smut meeting to be held in Dallas, TX June of 2000.
Self-Evaluation: The change in the duration a chair and vice-chair serve will hopefully provide more continuity in getting projects established and underway. The committee also hopes that the website will generate more communication amongst its members and others.
SOIL MICROBIOLOGY AND ROOT DISEASES
Current Committee Chair: Maragret Smither-Kopperl, mlsk@ENTOMOS.com
Immediate Past Chair: Deborah Fravel, fraveld@ba.ars.usda.gov
Current Vice Chair: John Bowers, bowersj@ba.ars.usda.gov
Current Committee Members/terms:
TERM ENDING 2004:
Robert McGovern rjm@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu
Russ Bulluck lrbulluck@ucdavis.edu
Matthew Krause krause.10@osu.edu
John Bowers bowersjo@ba.ars.usda.gov
Cynthia Eayre ceayre@asrr.arsusda.gov
M. S. Reddy mreddy@acesag.auburn.edu
Jennifer Parke jennifer.parke@orst.edu
James Kurle jkurle@puccini.crl.umn.edu
TERM ENDING 8-12-2003:
Craig Canaday ccanaday@utk.edu,
Wade Elmer wade.elmer@po.state.ct.us,
Phillipe Lemanceau lemanceau@dijon.inra.fr
TERM ENDING 7-30- 2002:
Susan Meyer meyers@ba.ars.usda.gov,
Alexandra Stone agstone@facstaff.wisc.edu,
Kateel Shetty shettyk@fiu.edu
Outgoing Committee Members: Krishna Subbaro, Ravindra Bhat, Weidong Chen, Javier Gracia-Garza, Raymond Martyn, Jr., Nina Shishkoff
Annual Report: Members attending the annual meeting included Deborah Fravel, Margaret Smither Kopperl, Krishna Subbaro, Ravi Bhat, John Bowers, Bob McGovern, Craig Canaday, Jennifer Parke, Cynthia Eayre, Wade Elmer, Susan Meyer, and Russ Bulluck.
The committee sponsored a discussion session on Chitin and Chitinases in Soil: Significance for Disease Management. The session was organized by Margaret Smither-Kopperl.
Deborah Fravel had agreed to assume responsibility for the web page at the previous meeting. During the year she solicited information from committee members for their input and there were no responses. Discussion ensued about the content of the web page. It was agreed that the following should be included: A listing of the committee members with email addresses, details of their area of expertise and research interests, and links to their web pages. Historical information should also be included with minutes of previous meetings, and abstracts of previous symposia.
At the committee meeting in Salt Lake, there were two proposals made for future programs. John Bowers has volunteered to organize a symposium entitled “Soil Microbiology and Root Disease Ecology”; has to be submitted for 2003 or 2004. This will be a student contest, the best proposals will be selected and funded under the I. E. Melhus Student Speaker Symposium. The motion to support this was proposed and seconded.
The second proposal was “ Quantitative Aspects of Biological Control”; proposed by Jos Raaijmakers and Phillipe Lemanceau. Neither of the proposers were present at the meeting. Brian MacSpadden Gardener arrived from the Biocontrol Committee Meeting. A topic with very similar topics and speakers had been proposed by Bryon Duffy. The title was “Creating the Right Environment for Biological Control”;. Unfortunately Bryon was not present at the meeting either. It was decided to combine the two proposals. The Soil Microbiology and Root Diseases Committee will propose the session. Jos Raaijmakers, Phillipe Lemanceau and Bryon Duffy will be asked to work together to organize the session. Tentatively Bryon Duffy was cited as organizer.
Biocontrol would propose a Workshop and this would be supported by us. John Bowers commented that soil microbiology really needs a more quantitative approach.
The Public Policy Board (O. W. Barnet) has requested inputs from the committees on Public Policy. Discussion ensued and the two topics were suggested. These were Quarantine and Certification Programs.
John Bowers was elected as the new Vice-Chair.
Self-Evaluation: The committee wishes to continue as a separate committee with the same subject area focus.
TROPICAL PLANT PATHOLOGY
Current Committee Chair: John V. DaGraca, j-dagraca@tamu.edu
Immediate Past Chair: Janice Y. Uchida, juchida@hawaii.edu
Current Vice Chair: Serge Savary, serge.savary@mpl.ird.fr@lal.ufl.edu
Current Committee Members/Terms:
Ranajit Bandyopadhyay (2002)
Diana Greenough (2002)
Janice Uchida (2002)
Michael Grisham (2003)
Nigel Harrison (2003)
Raymond McGuire (2003)
Lee Calvert (2004)
John DaGraca (2004)
Segenet Kelemu (2004)
David Kuhn (2004)
Jeri Ooka (2004)
Ricio Rodriguez (2004)
Serge Savary (2004)
Andreas Westphal (2004)
Outgoing Committee Members: Steven Bagenski, Richard Lee, Alan MacNab
Annual Report: This year the Tropical Plant Pathology Committee hosted a symposium titled "The Promises and Pitfalls of GMO crops in the Tropics" at the joint meeting of the American Phytopathological Society, Mycological Society of American, and the Society of Nematologists. The symposium was held on Monday, August 25th at 8:00 am to 11:45 am at the Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, Utah. The speakers included: Lee Calvert from Colombia, Mike Pearson from New Zealand and Stephen Ferreira from Hawaii. A speaker from Africa was unexpectedly absent and Janice Uchida provided some information about GMOs in Africa and the introduction to the symposium. The symposium was well-attended and excellent discussion of Tropical GMO issues were exchanged.
The committee meeting was held on Saturday, August 25th from 6:30 to 8:00 pm at the Salt Palace Center. Janice Uchida, chair of the committee presided over the meeting. Present were: Michael Grisham, Lee Calvert, John DaGraca, Segenet Kelemu, Jeri Ooka, Serge Savary, Richard Lee, and Andreas Westphal. Visitors and potential new members were Rodrigo Valverde and Francisco Ochoa.
Rotating off the committee are Steven Bagenski, Richard Lee and Alan MacNab. We thank them sincerely for their participation.
John V. Da Graca is the new committee chair. He hails from the Citrus Center at Texas A&M University. His email is j-dagraca@tamu.edu. Please send him your concerns, questions and support when needed. By communicating your ideas and concerns with the chair, you will be an active member of the committee, and attendance of the national meetings is not required for your valuable suggestions.
The committee agreed to participate in a joint symposium for the APS meeting in 2002. We will be working with George Abawi and the Office of International Programs Advisory Board. Symposium title and speakers will be distributed when they are determined.
At the committee meeting we also discussed a list of new and emerging pathogens. These will be sent to Larry Madden who is chairing a special APS committee to assess the threat of non-indigenous plant pathogens to the U.S.
Over the years, the committee has change into a much more participatory and interactive group. John and I hope that this level of interest will continue. We have an important role to play in Tropical Plant Pathology, not only in disease etiology, epidemiology, and management but also in matters of international, social, and policy issues. Given that only a fraction of the U. S. is "Tropical", our international responsibilities and concerns are substantial.
Self-Evaluation: The Tropical Plant Pathology Committee continues to actively address the concerns of National and International Plant Pathology Environment. This year, the committee organized a successful symposium on the "Promises and Pitfalls of Genetically Modified crops in the Tropics". With much of the need for food centered in tropical developing countries, the issue of improved crops through GM technologies is critical. Excellent attendance and discussions were held at the symposium.
The committee addressed the issue of international pest movement and discussed the needs of Larry Maddens group. In addition, the committee or members of the committee (Janice Uchida) have organized and participated in symposium and workshops on the movement of pests and pathogens internationally. This is an issue that will remain a priority for APS and for many plant pathologist and entomologist.
At present the committee is composed of very active members who have responded to information requests, attended the national committee meeting, and contributed in the committee and the society, by locating speakers, organizing field trips, and providing fresh ideas in tropical pathology.
This committee should be continued to foster the crucial research and interactions in national as well as global Tropical Plant Pathology. We have a unique and incisive international base that will serve to establish APS worldwide. This international connection is important as it allows us to anticipate possible new pests and pathogens that might be entering the U.S. on imports.
TURFGRASS PATHOLOGY
Current Committee Chair: Larry Stowell, stowell@pace-ptri.com
Immediate Past Chair: Michael Boehm, boehm.1@osu.edu
Current Vice Chair: Jon F Powell, jpowell@puccini.crl.umn.edu
Current Committee Members/Terms:
Eric B. Nelson 2002
Eugene A. Milus 2002
Michael J. Boehm 2003
Lawrence E. Datnoff 2003
Kimberly J. Gard 2003
Brian D. Mitchum 2003
Jon F. Powell 2003
Larry J. Stowell 2003
Samuel B. Martin2004
Wakar Uddin 2004
Nathan R. Walker 2004
David Y. Han 2004
Michael R. Schwarz 2004
Michael L. Agnew 2004
Stuart Falk 2004
Geunhwa Jung 2004
Balakrishna Rao 2004
Outgoing Committee Members: Bruce B. Clarke 2001, David E. Green 2001, Richard Latin 2001, Gail L. Schumann 2001
Annual Report: The meeting was called to order at 8:00 pm and the agenda distributed by Mike Boehm. He extended a warm "thank you" to the committee members that are rotating off the committee: Bruce Clarke, David Green, Gail Schumann, and Eric Nelson.
Nominations for a new incoming Vice Chair were solicited. Jon Powell was nominated by Lawrence Datnoff. A vote was called and Jon Powell was elected Vice Chair for 2002, Chairperson in 2003. It was noted that Jon's term on the committee will need to be extended through 2004. Committee nomination forms were distributed and those interested in serving on the committee were encouraged to add their names. Additional nominations will be solicited from departmental chairs and through an invitation in Phytopathology News. Mike Boehm, Rick Latin, Gene Milus and Joe Vargas will be rotating off at the beginning of the 2002 annual meeting resulting in four new members being appointed. New committee members will be selected from those nominated by incoming chair, Larry Stowell.
Two Turfgrass Pathology Committee WWW sites are under development. Mike Boehm and Kimberly Gard are serving as the Committee’s “WWW masters”. The first site will replace the current Committee WWW site that is accessible via visiting APSnet. This page will be refereed to as a Committee “Splash” page and will provide basic information about the committee - very similar to the current Turfgrass Pathology Committee WWW page. All APS committees will be required to maintain a splash page. The second Turfgrass Pathology WWW site under development will be maintained by Mike Boehm on a server at The Ohio State University and will be designed to provide information and links of interest to those working on turfgrass diseases. Mike will be circulating a beta version of this WWW site sometime this Autumn. You can join the list server by sending your request to be added to Eric Nelson at: ebn1@cornell.edu or by sending an email directly to the list server at: TURF_WORK_GROUP-L@cornell.edu. The following “Courtesy guideline” was adopted in regards to guiding the sharing of information posted to the turfgrass pathology list serve: "The Turfgrass Pathology Working Group list server has been provided by Eric Nelson and Cornell University to encourage information exchange among turfgrass pathologists. The information posted to the Turfgrass Working Group list server should not be considered secure, however, as a courtesy to all list server users, please do not distribute any list server information that is marked DO NOT DISTRIBUTE."
Mike Boehm announced that the APS Education Center was up and running and that the first turfgrass disease lesson would be posted. He encouraged everyone to visit the site and to contribute as appropriate. The Education Center can be accessed at: www.apsnet.org/education/top.html. Linkages with the C5 meeting were discussed. Mike Boehm, Larry Stowell and Eric Nelson each attended last year’s CSSA meeting. Larry Stowell provided a brief overview of our committee’s activities during the CSSA C5 meeting. Larry will be in attendance at this year’s meeting and will present a similar report.
In regards to planning for the 2002 and 2003 annual meetings, Mike Boehm divided those in attendance into 4 working groups and asked each to brainstorm about future programming efforts. It was decided that the Committee would develop and put forth a proposal to hold a symposium focusing on the use of Strobilurin Fungicides on Turfgrass. A sub-committee was compiled and charged with developing a proposal for distribution at the 2002 Program Planning Committee meeting. The committee consisted of the following individuals: Mike Boehm, Kimberly Gard, Lee Burpee, Wakar Uddin, Dave Han, Jon Powell, Mike Agnew, Bruce Clarke, Jeff Barnes, Frank Wong and David Ross. A rough draft of the symposium follows:
Strobilurins and Turfgrass Disease Management
Time(min) Speaker(s) Title
5 Mike Boehm Welcome
25 Mike Boehm Strobilurins and Turfgrass Disease Management: Historical review, mode of action and range of pathogen activity
30 Wolfram Koeller A Tricky Class of Fungicides: Challenges for in vitro fungicide sensitivity testing
30 Gilberto Olaya (Syngenta) & _______ (BASF) Methods for assessing sensitivity of fungal pathogens to the Strobilurins
15 Panel Discussion (Koeller, Olaya & _________) Open Forum
15 Break
25/5 Bruce Clarke Response of Dollar Spot to the Strobilurins and Other Fungicides
40 Paul Vincelli & Lee Burpee Case Studies of Strobilurin Resistance in Turfgrass: Gray leaf spot and Anthracnose
20 (NAQOI representative) Overview of QOI Resistance Management Strategies in Other Cropping Systems
25 Interactive Brainstorming Session Possible QOI Resistance Management Strategies in Turfgrass Disease Management
5 Closing remarks
Besides the aforementioned proposal, the Turfgrass Pathology committee voted to continue holding the informal Turfgrass Pathology Working Group meeting at the annual meeting. Possible topics for the 2003 annual meeting were discussed and included the following:
Transgenes and Turfgrass Health Management;
Biology, Ecology and Epidemiology of Dollar Spot; and,
The Use of Molecular Techniques in Turfgrass Pathology.
Self-Evaluation: The Turfgrass Pathology committee is a newly established group that is highly active and vibrant. In addition to contributing to the APS program, the committee is actively establishing contact with the Crop Science Society of America C5 (Turfgrass) Division and the Entomological Society of America.
VIROLOGY
Current Committee Chair: John F. Murphy, jmurphy@acesag.auburn.edu
Immediate Past Chair: Bill Wintermantel, bwinter@salinas.ars.usda.gov
Current Vice Chair: James Schoelz, schoelzj@missouri.edu
Current Committee Members/Term:
Scott Adkins 01 04
Joe Anderson 01 04
Alexander Karasev 01 04
Richard Larson 01 04
Hsing-Yeh Liu 01 04
Gad Loebenstein 01 04
Baozhong Meng 01 04
Jane Poston 01 04
Wenpeng Qiu 01 04
Jeanmarie Verchot Lubicz 01 04
Jim Schoelz 00 05
John Murphy 99 04
Ron Brlansky 00 03
Clarissa Maroon 00 03
Brad Reddick 00 03
Bill Wintermantel 97 03
Judith K. Brown 98 02
Alan Eggenberger 99 02
Vicki Bowman Vance 99 02
Outgoing Committee Members: Keith Perry, Kay Scheets, Milton Zaitlin,
Annual Report: The committee meeting was officially called to order by Chair Bill Wintermantel on August 25, 2001 at 6:30 PM.
The meeting was attended by 34 people; this included committee members Judith Brown, Brad Reddick and Jim Schoelz (including possible new members Stenger and Lee).
Old Business: The Committee approved the minutes of the previous Virology Committee meeting held on August 12, 2000, at New Orleans, LA.
New Business: Special sessions for 2001
Each of the symposia (with the exception of the Mycovirus discussion) were outlined by the organizers. Those planned for the current meeting include (organizers):
Interactions between different host defense pathways (Schoelz and Gassman)
Soil-borne and fungus transmitted viruses (Verchot and Wintermantel)
Suppressors of gene silencing (Nelson)
Special sessions for the APS meeting in 2002 to be held in Milwaukee, WI.
NOTE- concern was voiced regarding the conflict in meeting time for APS and the International Congress of Virology (ICV). It is expected that many individuals will attend the ICV meeting rather than APS, including individuals that might be anticipated speakers for symposia. Therefore, only two sessions will be planned. Alex Karasev will move ahead with plans to organize a symposium on Viral Expression Vectors. A vote was taken to go forward with proposal of the Viral Expression Vectors as a symposium and to retain the other sessions for the 2003 annual meeting- 5 in favor, 0 against (this represents committee members only). The second symposium is Interactions Between Endosymbiotic Bacteria in Insects and Circulative Transmission of Viruses by Insects to be organized by Gad Leobenstein (Bill Wintermantel will contact Gad to confirm this).
Those sessions proposed previously for the 2002 meeting will be retained for the 2003 meeting in Charlotte, N.C. These include:
-Virus evolution and emerging viruses (Berger)
-Micro-arrays and new methodologies for virus detection (Tolin)
-Plant virus genomics (Berger)
-Viral protein structure and function (H. Scholthof)
-Host components involved in virus movement (Sherwood)
Nomination and election of Vice-Chair for 2003 (Chair in 2004) Judith K. Brown won the office by a unanimous vote.
As a historical perspective (in writing!): At the conclusion of the 2001 Virology Committee meeting, John F. Murphy will be Chair, Jim Schoelz will be Vice-Chair and past Chairs include Wintermantel, Scheets, Culver, Deom, Nelson, Edwards, Hu, Hammond, German, Gergerich, Jordan, Lommel, Hewings, Sherwood, Doods, Hampton and D'Arcy.
A discussion about the White Paper for the plant pathogen genome sequencing project was led by Judith Brown and Sue Tolin with participation by others. Important points discussed included: It is important that virologists have access to this funding and if they do not (aggressively) make a move to allow participation they may lose out on the opportunity.
-While it is obvious that we need to emphasize the importance of plant virus diseases as serious threats to plant health and associated economic losses, we need to stress the importance of knowledge about gene function and the uniquely interesting interaction between the virus and its host. Such studies not only serve to dissect the biological characteristics of the virus but are used to understand biological/physiological functions of the host.
-Concerns were raised about which viruses should be included in the list. Since viral genomes are relatively simple, obtaining complete sequence information is a more rapid process, and thus, more viruses are able to be sequenced for a given amount of funding. With this point in mind, it was suggested that viruses be submitted at the family level rather than genus level in order to allow a greater number of viruses to be included. It was also suggested that fungal-transmitted viruses be included (recommended those in the genus Tombusvirus) as well as viruses in the genus Rhabdovirus.
Proposal for the "bad virus" list was discussed in conjunction with the report for the New Virus Working Group (APS/APHIS Virology Working Group) -Sue Tolin provided a list of the ten most threatening plant viruses that was submitted to APHIS.
Larry Brown (APHIS) indicated that it would be most helpful to have a list of virus names along with information on the biological properties of these viruses and the names and addresses of individuals that work with these viruses that would serve as sources of information when needed.
A discussion followed that suggested a need for better communication between individuals on the "bad virus" subcommittee and those on the New Virus Working Group. Perhaps the list of "bad viruses" should be a subset of those viruses identified by the New Virus Working Group with this information then provided to APHIS.
Vern Damsteegt and Brad Reddick volunteered to serve on the "bad virus" subcommittee (which consists of Judith Brown, Don Gordon, John Hill, Susanne Hurtt, Marie Langham, Richard Larsen, John Sherwood and Sue Tolin).
Virology Committee Web Page: Thanks to Ulrich Melcher for developing the web page. Concern was voiced about access to the web page through APSnet, i.e., it appears to be difficult to find within the APSnet site. Ramon Jordan indicated he would voice this concern at one of the committee meetings.
History of the Virology Committee: No one expressed an interest in developing or maintaining a historical document and it was suggested that the issue be dropped.
ATCC Report: Rick Nelson summarized the annual meeting for the ATCC Executive Board-this summary is provided at the end of this document.
CAMPPS proposal: Bill Wintermantel summarized the information forwarded to Steve Slack regarding development of this facility by the USDA on the campus of Cornell University. The general points raised included: -The USDA did not discuss the proposal to develop the facility with ATCC.
-The response of the Virology Committee does not mean that APS necessarily agrees with this response nor does it serve to represent APS.
-Cornell is not the only site being considered.
-Steve Slack, as APS President and representing the Society, agrees to the concept of support for the collections but will not provide a letter indicating that the facility should be built.
Virology Student Travel Award: John Sherwood indicated funds now available should be able to support one award each year and one additional award every other year. The award for the 2001 annual meeting went to P.M. Sforza of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University for research (and associated presentation) on a geographic information system tool to improve integrated management of barley yellow dwarf in Virginia wheat.
I.E. Melhus Student Symposium: Rose Hammond agreed to (consider) organize a symposium for the 2003 annual meeting in Charlotte, N.C. Lawrence Lee expressed an interesting in participating in the organizational process.
Virology Committee poster: The poster will be up-dated for the 2002 annual meeting- John F. Murphy and Lawrence Lee will be responsible for developing a new poster.
Self-Evaluation: The Virology Committee has expanded in member number to 18, with these members representing diverse areas of interests in virology. Thirty-four people attended the Virology Committee meeting in Salt Lake City. This meeting involved a great deal of discussion on numerous topics, some of which was fairly intense but the group retained a pleasant and rather humorous mood. Our attendance consistently reaches 30 or more and discussions often include numerous participants making the meetings lively and very constructive. Participants in the Virology Committee seem more than willing to develop special sessions, the organizers follow through with plans and responsibilities and attendance to these special sessions is always good. The Virology Committee remains strong and the virologists remain committed to maintaining a strong presence within the Society.