- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Research entomologist Daniel Hasegawa of the Crop Improvement and Protection Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, will speak on "Landscape and Molecular Approaches for Managing Thrips and Thrips-Transmitted Viruses in the Salinas Valley" at the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's first seminar of the winter quarter on Wednesday, Jan. 20.
His virtual seminar begins at 4:10 p.m., announced agricultural Extension specialist Ian Grettenberger, seminar coordinator. To access the seminar, fill out this Google form link.
"In 2019-2020, lettuce production in the Salinas Valley of California was devastated by thrips-transmitted impatiens necrotic spot virus (INSV)," Hasegawa says in his abstract. "Due to the inherent challenges in managing thrips using conventional chemical tactics, and no direct means for managing the virus, there is a strong need for new management strategies. This seminar will provide an overview of (1) the challenges in managing thrips and INSV in lettuce production, (2) what we've learned about the epidemiology of thrips and INSV, and (3) opportunities to improve cultural practices and develop biotechnology tools, such as RNAi for managing thrips and INSV in the Salinas Valley."
Hasegawa joined the Salinas USDA-ARS team in May 2019 after serving as a postdoctoral research associate (molecular biology) for three years with USDA-ARS in Charleston, S. C. He specializes in vector entomology, molecular biology and biotechnlogy. "My lab uses a variety of techniques to understand insect vector-virus relationships that impact plant health and agriculture," he says on Linked In. "We use molecular, genetic, and epidemiological concepts to understand drivers of vector-borne transmission of pathogens and utilize genetic technologies (e.g. RNAi and CRISPR), to improve agriculture productivity and sustainability."
Hasegawa received his bachelor of science degree in biochemistry in 2007 from UC Riverside and his doctorate in biology from Clemson University in 2013.
The mission of the Crop Improvement and Protection Research Unit is to improve germplasm of lettuce, spinach and melon, determine basic biology of viral, fungal and bacterial diseases affecting these crops, develop alternatives to methyl bromide as a soil fumigant for control of soilborne pests in strawberry and vegetables, reduce postharvest losses of lettuce, develop scientifically based organic crop production practices, and develop methods for control of weeds. See more on the Pacific West Area website.
/span>- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The event is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. The site is located next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility.
“The focus of this new USDA-ARS honey bee research program is to develop technology that improves colony survivorship through long-term studies of multiple stress factors,” a spokesman said. “These new facilities support two recently hired researchers: Drs. Arathi Seshadri and Julia Fine. These new scientists and associated technical staff are members of the Invasive Species and Pollinator Health Research Unit, whose mission is to develop and transfer integrated biologically based approaches for the management of invasive species and the improvement of pollinator health. The research team collaborates with federal, university, non-governmental and industry partners conducting research to improve honey bee survival and beekeeping sustainability in California and nationwide."
Research leader Paul Pratt of the Invasive Species and Pollinator Health Research Lab will give the welcoming address, followed by the presentation of colors by the Travis Air Force Base Honor Guard.
Among the speakers: Robert Matteri, director of the Pacific West Area, USDA-ARS; Anita Oberbauer, associate dean, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences; and Kevin Hackett, national program leader, USDA-ARS.
The two new researchers will be introduced, followed by remarks by Darren Cox of Cox Honey of Utah, past president of the American Honey Producers' Association; Jackie Parks-Burris, past president of the California State Beekeepers' Association; and Extension apiculturist Elina Lastro Niño of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility. Niño also directs the California Master Beekeeper Program.
The event is open to invited guests. All guests are invited to tour the new facilities following the program. A stakeholder meeting is set from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the Laidlaw bee facility classroom. For more information,contact Platt at paul.pratt@usda.gov.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
See full paper
DAVIS--Hear that honey bee buzzing toward a flower? It's not just the nectar that she's scented.
Nectar-living microbes release scents or volatile compounds, too, and can influence a pollinator's foraging preference, according to newly published research led by UC Davis community ecologist Rachel Vannette.
The groundbreaking research, published in the current edition of New Phytologist journal, shows that nectar-inhabiting species of bacteria and fungi “can influence pollinator preference through differential volatile production,” said Vannette, an assistant professor in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
“This extends our understanding of how microbial species can differentially influence plant phenotype and species interactions through a previously overlooked mechanism,” Vannette said. “It's a novel mechanism by which the presence and species composition of the microbiome can influence pollination.”
“Broadly, our results imply that the microbiome can contribute to plant volatile phenotype,” she said. “This has implications for many plant-insect interactions.”
Their paper, titled “Nectar-inhabiting Microorganisms Influence Nectar Volatile Composition and Attractiveness to a Generalist Pollinator,” may explain in part the previous documented extreme variation floral volatiles that Robert Junker of University of Salzburg, Austria, and his team found; New Phytologist published their work in March 2017.
Although microbes commonly inhabit floral nectar, microbial species differ in volatile profiles, they found. “Honey bees detected most of the microbial volatiles or scents that we tested,” Vannette said, “and they distinguished the solutions of yeasts or bacteria based on volatiles only.” This suggests that pollinators could choose among flowers based on the microbes that inhabit those flowers.
The yeast Metschnikowia reukaufii produced the most distinctive compounds (some shared with the fruity flavors in wine) and was the most attractive of all microbes compared. This yeast is commonly found in flower nectar and is thought to hitch a ride on pollinators to travel from one flower to the next. Its scent production may help it attract pollinators, which then help the yeast disperse among flowers.
The Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis, provided the honey bees. More than 20 species of flowers--mostly natives--were used in the survey, including canyon delphinium or canyon larkspur (Delphinium nudicaule), sticky monkey flower (Mimulus aurantiacus), salvia (Lepechinia calycina) and purple Chinese houses (Collinsia heterophylla). The samplings were done in the spring and early summer, when the natives are at their peak.
Co-authors of the paper are Caitlin Rering, postdoctoral fellow at USDA-ARS, Gainesville, Fla.; John Beck researcher at USDA-ARS; Griffin Hall, junior specialist in the Vannette lab; and Mitch McCartney in UC Davis Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
The USDA and USDA-ARS funded the research.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
News Release
Zalom is the first entomologist to receive the coveted award, according to Kim Kaplan of the USDA-ARS Office of Communications.
Zalom was singled out for his outstanding work in IPM related to sustainable horticulture production, specifically for “his outstanding leadership and public service in IPM for horticultural crops at the regional, state, national and international levels; his stellar accomplishments in horticultural crops sustainability and pest management and his work ethic, service, courage and integrity, all driven by his insatiable curiosity and passion to solve problems in the horticultural crops landscape,” Kaplan said.
Zalom received the award, co-sponsored by USDA-ARS and the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS), on Thursday, Sept. 21 at the ASHS conference in Waikoloa, Hawaii. He presented the Morrison Memorial Lecture on “Significance of Integrated Pest Management to Sustainable Horticultural Production – Observations and Experiences.”
The IPM concept was developed by pest scientists in response to economic, environmental, and societal issues facing growers, Zalom says in his abstract. “The application of IPM concepts to horticultural crops has been particularly useful to facilitate sustainable production when presented with extrinsic challenges that arise from the presence of insect pests. Changing consumer preferences, new governmental regulations, limited pesticide availability and resistance development, and invasive species introductions are among challenges to horticultural crop production that have been mitigated with an IPM approach. Observations and experiences demonstrate that effective IPM benefits from a transdisciplinary approach that places the plant as the unifier of knowledge.”
Zalom, a past president of the 7000-member Entomological Society of America (ESA) and a member of the UC Davis faculty since 1980, holds a doctorate in entomology from UC Davis.
He is known for his work in the sustainability of tree crops, small fruits, vegetable crops, water quality and invasive species. Under his 16-year leadership as director, the University of California Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM) became recognized as the premier program of its type in the world. During that time, he reinforced the need for “sustainability” in the pursuit of managing pests.
The horticultural crops that Zalom has addressed during his 38-year career include almonds, grapes, olives, strawberries, tomatoes, and scores of others. Almonds in California account for more than 80 percent of the world's production and more than $4 billion of export value. California grapes account for all of the table grapes produced in the US, valued at $1.8 billion, and represent 85 percent of wine grapes that contribute to $32 billion in retail value. California growers also produce more than 85 percent of U.S. strawberries valued at about $2 billion annually, and virtually all of the country's olives and processing tomatoes. He is currently the primary campus-based entomologist working on all of these crops.
His research projects on pests, leading to successful agricultural applications, include navel orangeworm and spider mites in almonds, spider mites in strawberries, spotted wing drosophila in raspberries and cherries, and olive fruit fly in olives. He led the successful multidisciplinary research and extension effort during the 1990s that resulted in the reduction of dormant sprays in almonds and tree fruit by more than 50 percent while reducing organophosphate insecticide used as dormant sprays by over 90 percent. Recently, he and USDA-ARS virologist Mysore Sudarshana identified the vector of grapevine red blotch virus in vineyards as a treehopper, which now opens the possibility for developing a management approach to control the spread of the virus.
Known nationally and globally for his IPM leadership in numerous organizations, Zalom is an elected fellow of four scientific organizations: ESA, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Royal Entomological Society (London) and the California Academy of Sciences.
He organized and co-chaired--with presidents of four other entomological societies--the first ever International Entomology Leadership Summit, spanning two days within the 2016 International Congress of Entomology (ICE) meeting in September in Orlando, Fla.
Highly honored by his peers, Zalom is the recipient of numerous awards, including the most recent: Perry Adkisson Distinguished Speaker Award from Texas A&M University; the Entomological Foundation IPM Team Award, the Entomological Foundation Excellence in IPM Award, and the Outstanding Mentor Award from the UC Davis Consortium for Women and Research.
Zalom has authored more than 340 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and books, and has served as major professor for 12 Ph.D. students and seven master's students.
The Morrison Award memorializes Benjamin Y. Morrison (1891–1966), a pioneer in horticulture, and the first director of the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. He also helped found the American Horticultural Society and the American Iris Society. A scientist, landscape architect, plant explorer, author, and lecturer, he advanced the science of botany in the United States and fostered broad international exchange of ornamental plants. He also served as chief editor of the American Horticultural Society's magazine from its inception in 1926 until 1963.
To this day, the National Arboretum shows the impact of his work--particularly in the dogwood plantings, the Asian collections, and the azalea gardens. He also helped organize the arboretum's national herbarium collections.
As a plant breeder, Morrison is probably best known for his azaleas, Kaplan said. “He was one of the leading azalea authority in America during the first half of the 20th Century, and he worked for more than twenty-five years to breed a group of winter-hardy azaleas with large, colorful flowers, especially suited for the mid-Atlantic. These included the more than 400 Glenn Dale hybrids that he developed.”
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Zalom is the first entomologist to receive the coveted award, according to Kim Kaplan of the USDA-ARS Office of Communications.
Zalom was singled out for his outstanding work in IPM related to sustainable horticulture production, specifically for “his outstanding leadership and public service in IPM for horticultural crops at the regional, state, national and international levels; his stellar accomplishments in horticultural crops sustainability and pest management and his work ethic, service, courage and integrity, all driven by his insatiable curiosity and passion to solve problems in the horticultural crops landscape,” Kaplan said.
Zalom will receive the award, co-sponsored by USDA-ARS and the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS), on Thursday, Sept. 21 at the ASHS conference in Waikoloa, Hawaii. He will present the Morrison Memorial Lecture on “Significance of Integrated Pest Management to Sustainable Horticultural Production – Observations and Experiences.”
The IPM concept was developed by pest scientists in response to economic, environmental, and societal issues facing growers, Zalom says in his abstract. “The application of IPM concepts to horticultural crops has been particularly useful to facilitate sustainable production when presented with extrinsic challenges that arise from the presence of insect pests. Changing consumer preferences, new governmental regulations, limited pesticide availability and resistance development, and invasive species introductions are among challenges to horticultural crop production that have been mitigated with an IPM approach. Observations and experiences demonstrate that effective IPM benefits from a transdisciplinary approach that places the plant as the unifier of knowledge.”
Zalom, a past president of the 7000-member Entomological Society of America (ESA) and a member of the UC Davis faculty since 1980, holds a doctorate in entomology from UC Davis.
He is known for his work in the sustainability of tree crops, small fruits, vegetable crops, water quality and invasive species. Under his 16-year leadership as director, the University of California Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM) became recognized as the premier program of its type in the world. During that time, he reinforced the need for “sustainability” in the pursuit of managing pests.
The horticultural crops that Zalom has addressed during his 38-year career include almonds, grapes, olives, strawberries, tomatoes, and scores of others. Almonds in California account for more than 80 percent of the world's production and more than $4 billion of export value. California grapes account for all of the table grapes produced in the US, valued at $1.8 billion, and represent 85 percent of wine grapes that contribute to $32 billion in retail value. California growers also produce more than 85 percent of U.S. strawberries valued at about $2 billion annually, and virtually all of the country's olives and processing tomatoes. He is currently the primary campus-based entomologist working on all of these crops.
His research projects on pests, leading to successful agricultural applications, include navel orangeworm and spider mites in almonds, spider mites in strawberries, spotted wing drosophila in raspberries and cherries, and olive fruit fly in olives. He led the successful multidisciplinary research and extension effort during the 1990s that resulted in the reduction of dormant sprays in almonds and tree fruit by more than 50 percent while reducing organophosphate insecticide used as dormant sprays by over 90 percent. Recently, he and USDA-ARS virologist Mysore Sudarshana identified the vector of grapevine red blotch virus in vineyards as a treehopper, which now opens the possibility for developing a management approach to control the spread of the virus.
Known nationally and globally for his IPM leadership in numerous organizations, Zalom is an elected fellow of four scientific organizations: ESA, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Royal Entomological Society (London) and the California Academy of Sciences.
He organized and co-chaired--with presidents of four other entomological societies--the first ever International Entomology Leadership Summit, spanning two days within the 2016 International Congress of Entomology (ICE) meeting in September in Orlando, Fla.
Highly honored by his peers, Zalom is the recipient of numerous awards, including the most recent: Perry Adkisson Distinguished Speaker Award from Texas A&M University; the Entomological Foundation IPM Team Award, the Entomological Foundation Excellence in IPM Award, and the Outstanding Mentor Award from the UC Davis Consortium for Women and Research.
Zalom has authored more than 340 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and books, and has served as major professor for 12 Ph.D. students and seven master's students.
The Morrison Award memorializes Benjamin Y. Morrison (1891–1966), a pioneer in horticulture, and the first director of the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. He also helped found the American Horticultural Society and the American Iris Society. A scientist, landscape architect, plant explorer, author, and lecturer, he advanced the science of botany in the United States and fostered broad international exchange of ornamental plants. He also served as chief editor of the American Horticultural Society's magazine from its inception in 1926 until 1963.
To this day, the National Arboretum shows the impact of his work--particularly in the dogwood plantings, the Asian collections, and the azalea gardens. He also helped organize the arboretum's national herbarium collections.
As a plant breeder, Morrison is probably best known for his azaleas, Kaplan said. “He was one of the leading azalea authority in America during the first half of the 20th Century, and he worked for more than twenty-five years to breed a group of winter-hardy azaleas with large, colorful flowers, especially suited for the mid-Atlantic. These included the more than 400 Glenn Dale hybrids that he developed.”