Phytophthora acaciivora sp. nov. associated with dying Acacia mangium in Vietnam

Acacia mangium plantations account for more than 50 % of the exotic plantations in Vietnam. A new black butt symptom was discovered in 2012, followed by the wilting sign in Acacia seedlings in Tuyen Quang Province. Isolations recovered two Phytophthora species, the well-known Acacia pathogen P. cinnamomi, and an unknown species. The new species is described here as Phytophthora acaciivora sp. nov. Phylogenetically this species resides in clade 2d and is most closely related to P. frigida. Phytophthora acaciivora is a heterothallic species, oospores are aplerotic and antheridia are amphigynous. It produces predominantly elongated ovoid, semi papillate, persistent sporangia, no hyphal swellings and no chlamydospores. Optimum temperature for the growth is 25–30 °C and the maximum temperature is over 37.5 °C. Studies are underway to determine the impact of this new species on Acacia plantations in Vietnam.https://fuse-journal.orghj2021Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)Plant Production and Soil Scienc

Microfungi associated with dying Euphorbia mauritanica in South Africa and their relative pathogenicity

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION : TABLE S1. Collection details and GenBank accessions of Alanphillipsia isolates included in the phylogenetic analyses. TABLE S2. Collection details and GenBank accessions of Cytospora isolates included in the phylogenetic analyses. TABLE S3. Collection details and GenBank accessions of Didymellaceae isolates included in the phylogenetic analyses.Euphorbia mauritanica is a succulent shrub that is indigenous to South Africa and widely distributed throughout the country. Dying plants have been observed in their natural habitat in the Northern and Western Cape Provinces of South Africa in recent years. Stems displaying lesions were collected and the emerging cultures were identified based on ITS, LSU, ACT, RPB2, TEF1 and/or TUB2 sequence data. Four filamentous fungi were consistently observed and isolated. One was identified as Alanphillipsia (Ala.) aloes, and the other three were new to science and are described here as Cytospora euphorbiicola sp. nov., Nothomicrosphaeropsis namakwaensis sp. nov. and Austrophoma (Aus.) euphorbiae gen. et sp. nov. These new species and Ala. aloes were the most commonly encountered, and their pathogenicity was tested on E. mauritanica plants in a greenhouse trial. All four species gave rise to lesions that were significantly larger than those associated with the controls, but they were not significantly different to each other. Although the lesions associated with the inoculations were well-developed, they did not give rise to plant death, suggesting that they are not responsible for the large-scale die-off of E. mauritanica in the field. The primary cause of the death of E. mauritanica in the studied area remains unknown and could be due to environmental factors such as has been found with the die-off of Euphorbia ingens in South Africa.The University of Pretoria.https://www.fuse-journal.orgam2024BiochemistryForestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)GeneticsMicrobiology and Plant PathologyPlant Production and Soil ScienceSDG-15:Life on lan

Quambalaria eucalypti found on Eucalyptus in Indonesia

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.The Eucalyptus plantation industry in Indonesia has expanded rapidly during the last few decades. During routine nursery disease surveys, symptoms of a leaf and shoot blight disease were detected on Eucalyptus mother plants. Isolates were obtained from symptomatic tissues and identified using DNA sequence analyses. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the isolates were those of Quambalaria eucalypti. Pathogenicity tests were conducted with isolates of Q. eucalypti on clones of E. pellita and E. grandis × E. pellita hybrids. These resulted in symptoms similar to those observed on naturally infected plants. Eucalyptus genotypes tested showed variation in their susceptibility, highlighting the potential to select and breed for resistance and thus to manage future outbreaks of the disease. This is the first report of the pathogen in Indonesia as well as in Southeast Asia.Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) and the Forestry Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI) at the University of Pretoria.http://www.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/efphj2023Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)Plant Production and Soil ScienceSDG-15:Life on lan

First report of phyllode rust on Acacia crassicarpa outside its native range

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.Acacia crassicarpa is a tropical tree species native to Australia, West Papua and Papua New Guinea, which has been widely used to establish plantations in the lowland humid tropics of Sumatra and Kalimantan. These trees, able to grow on sites having relatively poor nutrition, have been relatively free of serious disease problems. A rust disease infecting the phyllodes of A. crassicarpa has recently been encountered in plantations in various areas of Indonesia and Malaysia where they are not native. In this study, the rust was collected and identified as Endoraecium violae-faustiae using DNA sequence analysis based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the rDNA. This is the first record of the rust outside its native range. Damage at present appears to be relatively mild but the pathogen could become important in the future.The RGE-FABI Tree Health Programme and the University of Pretoria.http://www.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/efphj2023BiochemistryForestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)GeneticsMicrobiology and Plant PathologyPlant Production and Soil ScienceSDG-15:Life on lan

Cypress canker : an important disease discovered for the first time on a native South African tree

Cypress canker is a branch and stem canker disease of Cupressaceae trees, particularly those in the genera Cupressus and Hesperocyparis. These trees have been planted in many parts of the world as ornamentals and the Seiridium species that cause the disease, consequently, also have an almost global distribution. The taxonomy of Seiridium species causing cypress canker has recently been revised and numerous species are now believed to cause the disease. This study describes, for the first time, cypress canker on the native South African Cupressaceae tree, Widdringtonia nodiflora. The aim was to identify the causal agent and confirm its pathogenicity. Phylogenetic analyses of sequence data for four regions identified the fungus as Seiridium neocupressi, a species previously known only from Australia, New Zealand and Italy. Field inoculations of W. nodiflora branches resulted in distinct cankers within 6 weeks and the fungus could be reisolated from the treated trees. Cypress canker has been known in South Africa for many decades, where it causes a serious disease on nonnative species of Cupressus, but it has never been found on native Cupressaceae. The newly discovered disease caused by a probable alien pathogen is of particular concern because only three species of Widdringtonia occur in South Africa and are important components of the native flora. The two other species, W. wallichii and W. schwartzii, occur in small endemic and threatened populations. The origin of S. neocupressi in South Africa and the relative susceptibility of the three Widdringtonia species, consequently, requires urgent attention.The University of Pretoria and the National Research Foundation.https://bsppjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13653059dm2022BiochemistryForestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)GeneticsMicrobiology and Plant PathologyPlant Production and Soil Scienc

Blast from the past : a study of decades-old fungal cultures resolves a long-standing tree disease mystery

DATA AVAILABILITY : The sequences that were generated for this study have been deposited at the NCBI. The accession numbers will be made available upon publication.A root disease in plantations of Pinus radiata and Pinus pinaster, where trees died in distinct patches, was present in the Western Cape province of South Africa during the 1970s and 1980s. Phytophthora cinnamomi was initially believed to be the cause, but the disease was later ascribed to the insect-associated fungus Leptographium serpens, a fungal species residing in the Ophiostomatales. Doubt regarding the cause of the disease was raised in a later study due to the fact that most Leptographium spp., particularly those that colonise ray parenchyma tissues, which is the case for L. serpens, are not typically primary disease agents. In this study, cultures of an unidentified sterile fungus collected from the dying trees were revived and identified using DNA sequencing methods, which were not available when the disease was first studied. These cultures were identified as the pyrophillic pathogen Rhizina undulata, well-known to cause patch death of conifers in South Africa and elsewhere in the world. While the patches of dying trees no longer exist and the disease cannot be newly studied, it is most likely that the tree death originally thought to be caused by L. serpens was due primarily to R. undulata. The study provides a vivid example of the value of preserving cultures of fungi for later study and the power of modern techniques to identify fungal pathogens.The members of the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP) and the National Research Foundation (NRF) in South Africa. Open access funding provided by University of Pretoria.https://link.springer.com/journal/42161hj2023BiochemistryForestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)GeneticsMicrobiology and Plant PathologyPlant Production and Soil Scienc

A novel species of Microsphaeropsis causing cankers on rafnia amplexicaulis in South Africa

Cankers leading to branch, stem and plant death were observed on the South African endemic Rafnia amplexicaulis (Fabaceae) in the Cederberg Wilderness Area, South Africa, during September 2021. Conidiomatal pycnidia were found developing on the cankers, and isolations consistently yielded a Microsphaeropsis species. Phylogenetic analysis based on partial nucleotide sequences of the internal transcribed spacers (ITS), the nuclear large subunit (LSU) and RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (RPB2) regions showed that the fungus represented an undescribed species. Based on the multigene phylogeny and morphological characteristics, we describe the species here as M. rafniae sp. nov. Pathogenicity tests and the fulfilment of Koch’s postulates confirmed that M. rafniae sp. nov. is the cause of the cankers of R. amplexicaulis. Presently, this disease is known from a single location in South Africa, and further surveys are required to determine its distribution and relative importance.Members of the Tree Protection Cooperative Programme (TPCP), the DST/NRF Centre of Excellence in Plant Health Biotechnology (CPHB) and the University of Pretoria, South Africa.https://fuse-journal.org/images/Issues/Vol12Art5.pdfam2024BiochemistryForestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)GeneticsMicrobiology and Plant PathologyPlant Production and Soil ScienceSDG-15:Life on lan

Flt3L-Mediated expansion of plasmacytoid dendritic cells suppresses HIV infection in humanized mice

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (plasmacytoid DC, pDC) are major IFN-I producers and have been shown to be affected by HIV through ill-defined mechanisms. In this study, we directly assess the role of pDC in early infection, evaluating whether modulating their abundance can alter viral replication. First, HIV infection of humanized mice induces systemic depletion of pDC, and in the presence of soluble FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 ligand (Flt3L), pDC levels remain elevated. Flt3L significantly delays the onset of viremia and reduces viral replication via a process that is dependent on pDC and mediated through an enhanced early IFN-I response. pDC from Flt3L-treated mice are more prone to express IFN-a following TLR7 stimulation, but this propensity is gradually decreased during infection. In conclusion, maintaining pDC levels and function is key to effective early viral control, and in this context, these findings provide practical insights for anti-HIV strategies and vaccine design

Global burden and strength of evidence for 88 risk factors in 204 countries and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Understanding the health consequences associated with exposure to risk factors is necessary to inform public health policy and practice. To systematically quantify the contributions of risk factor exposures to specific health outcomes, the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 aims to provide comprehensive estimates of exposure levels, relative health risks, and attributable burden of disease for 88 risk factors in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, from 1990 to 2021. Methods: The GBD 2021 risk factor analysis used data from 54 561 total distinct sources to produce epidemiological estimates for 88 risk factors and their associated health outcomes for a total of 631 risk–outcome pairs. Pairs were included on the basis of data-driven determination of a risk–outcome association. Age-sex-location-year-specific estimates were generated at global, regional, and national levels. Our approach followed the comparative risk assessment framework predicated on a causal web of hierarchically organised, potentially combinative, modifiable risks. Relative risks (RRs) of a given outcome occurring as a function of risk factor exposure were estimated separately for each risk–outcome pair, and summary exposure values (SEVs), representing risk-weighted exposure prevalence, and theoretical minimum risk exposure levels (TMRELs) were estimated for each risk factor. These estimates were used to calculate the population attributable fraction (PAF; ie, the proportional change in health risk that would occur if exposure to a risk factor were reduced to the TMREL). The product of PAFs and disease burden associated with a given outcome, measured in disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), yielded measures of attributable burden (ie, the proportion of total disease burden attributable to a particular risk factor or combination of risk factors). Adjustments for mediation were applied to account for relationships involving risk factors that act indirectly on outcomes via intermediate risks. Attributable burden estimates were stratified by Socio-demographic Index (SDI) quintile and presented as counts, age-standardised rates, and rankings. To complement estimates of RR and attributable burden, newly developed burden of proof risk function (BPRF) methods were applied to yield supplementary, conservative interpretations of risk–outcome associations based on the consistency of underlying evidence, accounting for unexplained heterogeneity between input data from different studies. Estimates reported represent the mean value across 500 draws from the estimate's distribution, with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) calculated as the 2·5th and 97·5th percentile values across the draws. Findings: Among the specific risk factors analysed for this study, particulate matter air pollution was the leading contributor to the global disease burden in 2021, contributing 8·0% (95% UI 6·7–9·4) of total DALYs, followed by high systolic blood pressure (SBP; 7·8% [6·4–9·2]), smoking (5·7% [4·7–6·8]), low birthweight and short gestation (5·6% [4·8–6·3]), and high fasting plasma glucose (FPG; 5·4% [4·8–6·0]). For younger demographics (ie, those aged 0–4 years and 5–14 years), risks such as low birthweight and short gestation and unsafe water, sanitation, and handwashing (WaSH) were among the leading risk factors, while for older age groups, metabolic risks such as high SBP, high body-mass index (BMI), high FPG, and high LDL cholesterol had a greater impact. From 2000 to 2021, there was an observable shift in global health challenges, marked by a decline in the number of all-age DALYs broadly attributable to behavioural risks (decrease of 20·7% [13·9–27·7]) and environmental and occupational risks (decrease of 22·0% [15·5–28·8]), coupled with a 49·4% (42·3–56·9) increase in DALYs attributable to metabolic risks, all reflecting ageing populations and changing lifestyles on a global scale. Age-standardised global DALY rates attributable to high BMI and high FPG rose considerably (15·7% [9·9–21·7] for high BMI and 7·9% [3·3–12·9] for high FPG) over this period, with exposure to these risks increasing annually at rates of 1·8% (1·6–1·9) for high BMI and 1·3% (1·1–1·5) for high FPG. By contrast, the global risk-attributable burden and exposure to many other risk factors declined, notably for risks such as child growth failure and unsafe water source, with age-standardised attributable DALYs decreasing by 71·5% (64·4–78·8) for child growth failure and 66·3% (60·2–72·0) for unsafe water source. We separated risk factors into three groups according to trajectory over time: those with a decreasing attributable burden, due largely to declining risk exposure (eg, diet high in trans-fat and household air pollution) but also to proportionally smaller child and youth populations (eg, child and maternal malnutrition); those for which the burden increased moderately in spite of declining risk exposure, due largely to population ageing (eg, smoking); and those for which the burden increased considerably due to both increasing risk exposure and population ageing (eg, ambient particulate matter air pollution, high BMI, high FPG, and high SBP). Interpretation: Substantial progress has been made in reducing the global disease burden attributable to a range of risk factors, particularly those related to maternal and child health, WaSH, and household air pollution. Maintaining efforts to minimise the impact of these risk factors, especially in low SDI locations, is necessary to sustain progress. Successes in moderating the smoking-related burden by reducing risk exposure highlight the need to advance policies that reduce exposure to other leading risk factors such as ambient particulate matter air pollution and high SBP. Troubling increases in high FPG, high BMI, and other risk factors related to obesity and metabolic syndrome indicate an urgent need to identify and implement interventions. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

SYSTEM DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE FOR THE RECENT DIII-D NEUTRAL BEAM COMPUTER UPGRADE

OAK-B135 This operating year marks an upgrade to the computer system charged with control and data acquisition for neutral beam injection system's heating at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility, funded by the US Department of Energy and operated by General Atomics (GA). This upgrade represents the third and latest major revision to a system which has been in service over twenty years. The first control and data acquisition computers were four 16 bit mini computers running a proprietary operating system. Each of the four controlled two ion source over dedicated CAMAC highway. In a 1995 upgrade, the system evolved to be two 32 bit Motorola mini-computers running a version of UNIX. Each computer controlled four ion sources with two CAMAC highways per CPU. This latest upgrade builds on this same logical organization, but makes significant advances in cost, maintainability, and the degree to which the system is open to future modification. The new control and data acquisition system is formed of two 2 GHz Intel Pentium 4 based PC's, running the LINUX operating system. Each PC drives two CAMAC serial highways using a combination of Kinetic Systems PCI standard CAMAC Hardware Drivers and a low-level software driver written in-house expressly for this device. This paper discusses the overall system design and implementation detail, describing actual operating experience for the initial six months of operation