Landscape epidemiology of late blight
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Late blight of potato and tomato (causal agent: Phytophthora infestans) has been and still is one of the most devastating diseases in cultivated crops resulting in multibillion losses annually. In this project we aim to model the spatiotemporal dynamics of late blight epidemics using empirical data.
This project is in collaboration with Prof. William E. Fry (Cornell University) and Prof. Dani Shtienberg (ARO) Check out our poster presented at the EuroBlight workshop in May 2015 Publication: Firester B, Shtienberg D and Blank L. (2018). Modeling the spatio-temporal dynamics of Phytophthora infestans at a regional scale. Plant Pathology 67: 1552-1561 [pdf] Journal Link |
Left- The spatial and temporal onset of late blight symptoms in potato fields and tomato greenhouses in autumn 2014-15. Right- Hypothesized country-wide spatial and temporal distribution of P. infestans. Black arrows represent primary (long distance) and blue arrows represent the secondary (short distance) spread of the disease.
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Identifying the factors affecting the distribution of the Mal secco disease
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Mal secco disease of citrus, caused by the fungus Phoma tracheiphila (Petri) Kantschaveli & Gikashvili, is a highly destructive vascular disease of citrus in the Mediterranean basin. Our goals are to characterize the main factors affecting the disease development and severity and define the mechanism of secondary spread. We are using extensive data-set, spatial and statistical modeling and GIS.
This project is in collaboration with Dr. David Ezra (ARO) and Prof. Dani Shtienberg (ARO). Publications: Ben-Hamo M, Ezra D, Krasnov H, and Blank L (2020). Spatial and temporal dynamics of Mal Secco disease spread in lemon orchards in Israel. Phytopathology 110: 863-872 [pdf] Journal Link Krasnov H, Ezra D, Bahri BA, Cacciola SO, Meparishvili G, Migheli Q, and Blank L (2023). Potential distribution of the citrus Mal Secco disease in the Mediterranean basin under current and future climate conditions. Plant Pathology 72: 765-773 |
Infected citrus orchard
Suitability map of Mal Secco disease showing the mean suitability values of the three scenarios (current, 2050 and 2070). The change in the average suitability along each geographical axis (coordinate) is presented.
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Distribution of Pine Pitch Canker in Cantabria, Northern Spain
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Pine Pitch canker, caused by the fungus Fusarium circinatum, is one of the most important pathogens of Pinus species. At present, the disease occurs in forests and nurseries in various locations worldwide. Spain was the first European country where the disease was detected over ten years ago; more recently the pathogen has established in Portugal and has also been reported in France and Italy. At present there are no means of managing the disease in adult trees in forests or plantations. In this work we surveyed dozens of infected forest stands in Cantabria, Northern Spain, and we use it to identify the environmental variables that affect the disease.
We are collaborating with Prof. Julio Diez Casero (Universidad de Valladolid, Spain) and Jorge Martín García (Universidad de Valladolid, Spain). This is a poster we presented in IUFRO working group meeting in 2017, and also see our paper (in Hebrew) [pdf] Journal Link Publications: Blank L, Martín-García J, Bezos D, Vettraino AM, Krasnov H, Lomba JM, Fernández and Diez JJ (2019). Factors affecting the distribution of Pine Pitch Canker in Northern Spain. Forests 10: 305 [pdf] Journal Link Drenkhan R., Ganley B, Martín-García J, Vahalík P, Adamson K, Adamčíková K, Ahumada R, Blank L, Bragança H, Capretti P, Cleary M, Cornejo C, Davydenko K, Diez JJ, Doğmuş-Lehtijärvi HT, Dvořák M, Enderle R, Fourie G, Georgieva M, Ghelardini L, Hantula J, Ioos R, Iturritxa E, Kanetis L, Karpun NN, Koltay A, Landeras E, Markovskaja S, Mesanza N, Milenkovic I, Musolin DL, Nikolaou K, Nowakowska JA, Ogris N, Oskay F, Oszako T, Papazova-Anakieva I, Paraschiv M, Pasquali M, Pecori F, Rafoss T, Raitelaitytė K, Raposo R, Robin C, Rodas CA, Santini A, Sanz-Ros AV, Selikhovkin AV, Solla A, Soukainen M, Soulioti N, Steenkamp ET, Tsopelas P, Vemić A, Vettraino AM, Wingfield MJ, Woodward S, Zamora-Ballesteros C, Mullett MS (2020) Global geographic distribution and host range of Fusarium circinatum, the causal agent of pine pitch canker. Forest 11: 724 [pdf] Journal Link |
Symptom of resin gumming from cankers on the main trunk, and shoot die-back in a pine tree infected with Fusarium circinatum.
Photo: Dr. Stanley Freeman, ARO
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