^New Virus Inclusion Workshop, Florida 5/8/06 - 5/10/06

A 3 day introductory course for scientists, diagnosticians, and/or technicians who have no previous experience or limited experience with virus inclusion identification. "Hands-on" labwork will include virus inclusion identification of potyviruses, tobamoviruses, potexviruses, cucumoviruses, comoviruses, tomato spotted wilt virus, and geminiviruses. Other groups will be demonstrated through the use of prepared slides and PowerPoint presentations. Both the letter and brochure have more information. Due to limited space and facilities, interested individuals must pre-register for this workshop. 

For additional details, course agenda, or registration, please contact:

Dr. Robert (Bob) J. McGovern, Director

Florida Extension Plant Disease Clinic

University of Florida

P.O. Box 110830

Gainesville, FL 32611-0830

Phone 352-392-1795

FAX 352-392-3438

E-mail: pdc@mail.ifas.ufl.edu

^New Chilli Thrips Training Session 12-13-05  The University of Florida/IFAS Extension in cooperation with the SPDN, IPM Florida, FDACS-DPI, USDA-CSREES, and USDA-APHIS is pleased to announce a Polycom In-Service training for one of Florida's latest exotic pest introductions, the chilli thrips (Scirtothrips dorsalis). The training will be held from 1-4 PM on Tuesday, December 13, 2005 at each of the UF/IFAS REC's and in Gainesville, FL. The session will be recorded, distributed as CD's to the county offices, and posted on the web post-conference.   Please contact Amanda Hodges by Thursday, December 8, 2005 if you plan to attend or have further questions regarding this session. Please specify your training location in your correspondence. For more information, please read the official training announcement.  Updates on the thrips are located on Dr. Lance Osborne's chilli thrips page http://mrec.ifas.ufl.edu/lso/thripslinks.htm and the SPDN pest alert page http://spdn.ifas.ufl.edu/Pest_alert.html.

^New The SPDN is announcing a 'Scale Insects, Whiteflies, Aphids, and Psyllids Taxonomic Training' that will be held July 13-14, 2006 at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. A diverse group of professions from the University of Puerto Rico, the University of Florida, USDA-APHIS-PPQ, and FAO are involved in this planning effort. This training will be held post-conference to the annual 2006 Caribbean Food Crop Society Meeting. General diagnosticians/identifiers or extension specialists in the Caribbean Region are the target audience for the training. Space is limited, but nomination of candidates is encouraged. Please send your letters of nomination and any questions to Amanda Hodges by Friday, January 20, 2006. See the nomination letter for more information.

^New DDIS Training and Botrytis on Poinsettia News in Puerto Rico, by Consuelo Estevez

• Two Seminars about DDIS in Puerto Rico were presented:  1) Introduction to DDIS (Disease Diagnostic Identification System), University of Puerto Rico. Crop Protection Department. Mayagüez, September 21 2005, and 2)  Distance Diagnostics of Plant Diseases. University of Puerto Rico, Biology Department, Ponce. November 16, 2005.  Plus, a practical exercise for the use of DDIS for 45 students at Juana Diaz was conducted. The exercise consisted of a field visit and selection of a disease. Digital images obtained of the diseases were sent through DDIS. The dates of the exercise were November 2, 8  and 9, 2005

• Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) represents a $ 5 million industry in Puerto Rico. During October 2005 an outbreak of gray mold occurred in several greenhouses in the area of Aibonito. Visible sporulation and gray mold over leaves were present. Necrotic lesions on stems and cankers developed above the soil line. Botrytis cinerea and Peronospora spp. in mixed infections were the causal agents identified.  Environmental conditions were conducive for the disease, high humidity, cloudy days and 70-82 F temperatures. A fast and accurate identification of the diseases and management recommendations prevented severe losses. 

PCR Workshop, Kentucky 1/31/06 – 2/2/06

A three-day, hands-on workshop on detection of plant-associated microorganisms using real-time PCR will be held at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.  This workshop provides an opportunity to enhance molecular diagnostic skills of plant diagnostic laboratories. Enrollment is limited in order to maintain a high-quality learning experience for participants, and the workshop is nearly full.  Personnel associated with SPDN laboratories who are interested in attending should contact Paul Vincelli (pvincell@uky.edu) as soon as possible to reserve a space.

2005 NPDN Symposium at ESA  Are you planning to attend the Entomological Society of America's annual meeting in Ft. Lauderdale, FL? Plan to attend the symposium "The Role of the National Plant Diagnostic Network (NPDN) and Land Grant University Cooperative Extension Services in Promoting the Early Detection of Exotic Pests" organized by Susan Ratcliffe, Steve Toth, Kenneth Sorensen, and Amanda Hodges. Also, don't forget to visit the NPDN booth in the exhibit hall at the meeting. Please contact Amanda Hodges at or more information.

Training & Education Reminder  If you have scheduled an NPDN training & education session, please remember to register your training session and participant information at http://spdn.ifas.ufl.edu/instructional_materials.htm . More information on NPDN training & education, including the official NPDN First Detector Educator manual is available at this site. Please contact Amanda Hodges at achodges@ifas.ufl.edu for more information or questions.

^New A new pest alert on an undescribed Ophiostoma fungus, very likely vectored by a recently-arrived Asian ambrosia beetle, is killing Persea borbonia of all size classes along the coast from Hilton Head, SC to Jacksonville, FL. Preliminary data indicate that tree mortality may be similar to that produced by Dutch elm disease. Along with the many questions we have about the biology, ecology, and management of the pathogen and vector(s) are questions about the impact of redbay mortality on other flora and fauna.

http://spdn.ifas.ufl.edu/Pest_alert.html

^New New Soybean Rust finds across the Southeast  More information can be found at http://spdn.ifas.ufl.edu/soybean_rust.htm, the SPDN Soybean Rust page, and http://www.sbrusa.net/. 

^New National APS Soybean Rust Symposium Great Success. The first of its kind National Soybean Rust Symposium, organized by APS, concluded with exceptional success. A diverse audience of more than 350 attendees participated in the event which was coordinated by Gary Bergstrom, Cornell University; a technical program planning committee chaired by Anne Dorrance, Ohio State Univ and an advisory board comprised of representatives of several key related organizations. The organizers thank all of the sponsors, partners, speakers, poster presenters, facilitators, recorders and others who contributed significantly to the event. Findings from the symposium will be posted on PMN's Soybean Rust Info Center in the next couple of weeks.