In This Issue:
Apple Industry Relief Efforts Underway
Unlocking the Mysteries of Gray Mold
Plum Pox Virus Update
2001 Ohio Tree Fruit Trap report
Fruit Observations & Trap Reports
Terminal Wholesale Fruit Prices
The Ohio Fruit Team wishes to express our sympathy for the victims and families of the tragedies that occurred on September 11, 2001. The outpouring of support shown by the following article and the "Show Your Support" event held at the Ohio Stadium last Saturday are examples of our Nation's peoples coming together.
The apple industry is continuing its efforts to support the relief efforts underway in New York City and Washington, D.C. USApple said today that apple growers from coast to coast are mobilizing to contribute apples and apple juice in the wake of last week's tragic events. The New York Apple Association (NYAA), Fishers, N.Y., is coordinating industry donations of apples and apple juice in New York, in partnership with America's Second Harvest and the American Red Cross affiliates in Manhattan. NYAA President Jim Allen reports that they are in the process of sending several trailer loads of apples to the scene, and that "we plan to keep them coming until someone tells us to stop." Meanwhile, USApple is overseeing offers of apples and apple juice to relief operations in the nation's capital.
However, in an update from USApple, America's Second Harvest has temporarily suspended deliveries of perishable food items, such as apples, to New York City and Washington, D.C. While expressing appreciation for the products they have received, organization officials report that their warehouses are fully stocked and an oversupply of produce items currently exists at both sites.
The U.S. Apple Association (USApple) and the New York Apple Association will continue to monitor the situation with the assistance of America's Second Harvest, and we will contact those groups and individual suppliers who have offered apples and apple juice in support of the relief efforts as soon as we learn of a need for additional donations. For more information about our industry's efforts to support the relief work underway in New York and the nation's capital, please contact Julia Daly or Kraig Naasz at (800) 781-4443.
If you love strawberries, you've probably seen it. You pick out a luscious, ripe berry from the basket, only to turn it over and see a mound of yucky gray fuzz. The fuzz, caused by gray mold (Botrytis sp.), ruins more than just strawberries. Over 23 species of Botrytis reduce yield, soften fruit, or affect color in a wide range of small fruits and nursery crops. In the Pacific Northwest alone, the mold causes up to $125 million per year in crop losses.
Researchers at ARS' Horticultural Crops Laboratory in Corvallis, Oregon, have discovered new characteristics of the mold and powerful new control approaches that may help growers reduce Botrytis infection. "Diseases caused by gray mold are among the most difficult to control," says ARS plant pathologist Walter F. Mahaffee. That's because the mold can remain dormant for long waiting for environmental conditions to turn favorable. Botrytis grows well on dead or dying plant tissue, such as leaves, then spreads to live parts of the plant. It reproduces prolifically and produces spores at all stages of its life.
Recently, Mahaffee and colleagues at Oregon State University (OSU) in Corvallis discovered a new clue about Botrytis' success: The mold can also live as an epiphyte. That means mold spores germinate and grow unnoticed on the surface of leaves and other plant parts. That allows it to be present constantly until the perfect conditions arise for it to infect the plant and cause disease. This epiphytic growth appears to be why the disease spreads so rapidly.
"I'd look at a leaf before going home in the evening and it would look pretty healthy," says Mahaffee. "Then I'd come in the next day and two-thirds of the leaf would show signs of infection. That's a lot of area to be covered very fast."
He discovered that, in reality, Botrytis had completely colonized the leaf surface epiphytically. Then, when the time was right, the mold infected the leaf at multiple sites simultaneously. Mahaffee found that the mold could move from one leaf hair to the next without actually touching the leaf tissue itself. "That type of spreading could reduce the efficacy of pesticides," he says, "because it would reduce the mold's contact with the residues on the leaves."
This finding was made possible by green fluorescent protein (GFP) technology. (See "Jellyfish Gene Lights Up E. Coli," Agricultural Research, March 2000, p. 15.) "By using this technology, we could watch the development of a single mold spore over time under the microscope," says Mahaffee. "We can also use a different GFP to mark a biological control agent and watch how the two organisms interact in real time. That's a first."
Taking Different Tacks
This work suggests new avenues for Botrytis control. "If we can determine the conditions that allow the mold to live in this epiphytic state, we may be able to make it harder for it to survive," says Mahaffee. Growers use fungicides and biological control agents to keep the mold in check. But Botrytis quickly develops resistance to pesticides. Available biocontrols can help prevent infection, but they don't get rid of Botrytis once it is established.
Mahaffee's team recently found a new bacterium that may lead them to better biocontrols. A strain of Burkholderia, the bacterium eradicates even established gray mold on geranium leaves in the laboratory. Unfortunately, the bacterium is related to bacteria that can cause health concerns for cystic fibrosis patients. Although that is likely to preclude its development into a commercial biological control agent, it still gives the scientists new strategies to pursue.
"We may be able to identify the genes responsible for the bacterium's effectiveness and search for other bacteria that have similar genes. Or we may be able to move the genes into a harmless biocontrol organism," says Mahaffee. Another option: The researchers might be able to harvest the active compounds produced by the bacteria and use them to develop a pesticide.
But the most exciting discovery about the bacterium is that it forms a filmlike cluster of cells as it grows. "This film seems to protect the bacterium from adverse conditions, like rapid or extreme changes in moisture or temperature," says Mahaffee. He and OSU plant pathologist Caroline Press found they could enhance this biofilm production by spraying the organisms onto the plant in a mixture of natural polymers already used as food additives.
"Adding polymers to the Burkholderia gives the same biological control of Botrytis, but at a much lower bacterial concentration," Mahaffee says. And the polymer mixture helps with other biocontrols, too. "Adding the polymer to some existing biological control agents gave us Botrytis control in the greenhouse where there was none without the polymers, or it improved control of other agents," he says. Mahaffee suspects that the polymers help organisms colonize a leaf surface better, giving them a higher, more constant population to stave off gray mold.
While this technology is just now being developed, Mahaffee hopes it could find commercial application with growers in 5 to 7 years, giving consumers firmer fruit and brighter flowers.
This research is part of Plant Diseases, an ARS National Program (#303) described on the World Wide Web at <http://www.nps.ars.usda.gov>. Walter F. Mahaffee is with the USDA-ARS Horticultural Crops Laboratory, 3420 N.W. Orchard Ave., Corvallis, OR 97330; phone (541) 752-9455, fax (541) 750-8764.
Not only did we not find any trace of the virus in Indiana this year, but other surveyed states also appear to have come up clean. Over 50,000 samples have been analyzed this year, and all tested negative for the antibodies to the virus. The outbreak in Ontario, Canada found last year has been quarantined, and all trees ordered to be removed have been destroyed. More than 300 new positive samples were found in the Niagara region, and as a result the quarantine zone has been expanded. Canadian officials were not surprised to find more infected trees due to the more intensive sampling this year, and they still feel they are on track with their eradication program.
Additional plum pox virus news is available at http://sharka.cas.psu.edu.
In addition to the online charts, printed graphs are available from Huron County Extension, 180 Milan Avenue, Norwalk, Ohio 44857 upon receipt of a self-addressed stamped business-size envelope.
Waterman Lab, Columbus, Dr. Celeste Welty, OSU Extension Entomologist
Traps used: STLM = Wing trap, SJS = Pherocon V, Codling Moth = mean of 3 MultiPher® traps, Others = MultiPher
Chicago http://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/HX_FV010.txt
Detroit http://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/DU_FV010.txt
Pittsburgh http://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/PS_FV010.txt
| Chicago | Detroit | Pittsburgh | |
| Apples, cartons, traypack | |||
| U.S. ExFancy Gala | NY 100s 15.50-16.00 | ||
| Apples, cartons, 12 3-lb filmbags | |||
| U.S. Fancy Earligold | MI 2½" min 12 - 12.50 | ||
| U.S. Fancy Gala | MI 2½" min 11.50-12.00 | ||
| U.S. Fancy Ginger Gold | MI 2½" min 10.00 | ||
| U.S. Fancy Gold Supreme | MI 2½" min 10.00 | ||
| U.S. Fancy Jonamac | MI 2½" min 10.00 | ||
| U.S. Fancy Paula Red | WI 2½" min 10.50 | MI 2½" min 11.00-12.50 | |
| U.S. Fancy Jersey Mac | WI 2½" min 10.50-11.00 | ||
| U.S. Fancy McIntosh | NY 2½" min 10.50-11.50 | ||
| U.S. Fancy Red Delicious | PA 2½" min 12.00-12.50 | ||
| U.S. ExFancy Royal Gala | PA 2¼" min 10.00-13.00 | ||
| U.S. ExFancy Jonagold | PA 2¼" min 10.00-12.00 | ||
| Apples, bushel cartons, loose | |||
| U.S. Fancy Cortland | MI 2½" min 11.50-12.00 | ||
| U.S. Fancy Gala | MI 2¼" up 12.00 | MI 2¾" up 14.50-15.00
3" min 14.50-15.00 2½" up 11.50- 12.00 |
PA 2¼" min 10.00-12.00 |
| U.S. Fancy Ginger Gold | MI 2¾" up 10.00-12.00
3" min 14.50-15.00 2½" up 10.00-12.00 |
||
| U.S. Fancy Gold Supreme | MI 3" min 13.50-14.00 | ||
| U.S. Fancy Golden Delicious | IL 2¼" up 12.00
MI 2¼" up 14.00 |
||
| U.S. Fancy Jonagold | PA 2¼" min 10.00-12.00 | ||
| U.S. Fancy Jonamac | MI 2¾" up 13.50-14.00 | ||
| U.S. Fancy Jonathan | MI 2¼" up 12.00 | ||
| U.S. Fancy McIntosh | MI 2¾" up 11.50-12.00
3" min 11.50-12.00 2½" up 10.00 |
||
| U.S. Fancy Paula Red | IL 2¼" up 12.00 | ||
| U.S. Fancy Red Delicious | MI 2¾" up 11.50-12.00
2½" up 9.50-10.00 |
||
| Apples, cartons cellpack | |||
| U.S. Fancy Paula Red 112s | WI 15.00 | ||
| U.S. Fancy McIntosh 80s
100s 120s |
NY 10.00 - 12.00
10.00 - 12.00 10.00 - 12.00 | ||
| U.S. ExFancy McIntosh 100s | NY 20.00 - 22.00 | ||
| Blueberries, 12 1-pt cups | MI 22.00-22.50 | MI Elliots med 22 -23.00 | MI med-lg 20.00-21.50 |
| 12 ½-pint cups | MI 15.00-17.00 | MI Elliots sm-med 12.00 | |
| Peaches, 25 lb cartons, loose, no grade marks, various yellow flesh varieties | IL 2½" up 12.00 | ||
| Peaches, 25 lb cartons, U.S. ExOne various yellow flesh varieties | MI 2½" up 12.00-12.50
2¼" up 8.50-9.00 |
||
| Peaches, ½ bu cartons, no grade marks, various yellow flesh varieties | NJ 2½" up 12.00 | ||
| Peaches, ½ bu cartons, U.S. One various yellow flesh varieties | MI 2¾" up 14-14.50
NJ 2¾" up 9.00-12.00 2½" up 8.00-10.00 2¼" up 6.00-8.00 |
||
| Peaches, ½ bu cartons, various yellow flesh varieties | NJ 2½" up 11.50-12.50 | ||
| Peaches, ½ bu cartons, Blakes | PA 2½" up 11.50-12.50 | ||
| Peaches, 38 lb ctns, no size marked, various yellow flesh varieties | NJ 8.00-8.50 | ||
| Prune Plums, 30-lb cartons
U.S. One Stanley |
MI 1¼" min 10.00 | MI 1¼" min 11-12.25 | |
| U.S. One Bluefire | MI 1¼" min 11.50-12.00 |
Ted W. Gastier
Extension Agent, Agriculture
Tree Fruit Team Coordinator
Ohio State University Extension Huron County
180 Milan Avenue
Norwalk, OH 44857
Phone: (419)668-8210
FAX: (419)663-4233
E-mail: gastier.1@osu.edu
Copyright © The Ohio State University 2001
All educational programs conducted by Ohio State University Extension
are available to clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to
race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, gender,
age, disability or Vietnam-era veteran status.
Keith L. Smith, Associate Vice President for Ag. Adm. and Director,
OSU Extension.
TDD No. 800-589-8292 (Ohio only) or 614-292-1868