fungus

Fungus Commits Floral Fraud to Fool Insects into Spreading It

Dan Industry News Release, Research, USDA

(USDA/ARS) — The spores of some fungi can linger in the environment for months or years just waiting for something to spread them elsewhere, like a gust of wind, falling rain or a passing insect or animal. Not so with Fusarium xyrophilum, a fungus found growing on two types of yellow-eyed grass in the savannas of Guyana, South America, and reported …

wineries

UF/IFAS Researchers Help Wineries Capitalize on Carbonation Craving

Dan Florida, Fruits, Industry News Release, Research, Specialty Crops

Oenophiles rejoice! University of Florida researchers are helping wineries make their product bubbly to meet taste trends and expand their business. Andrew MacIntosh, a UF/IFAS assistant professor of food science and human nutrition, is working with Florida wineries to teach and encourage more of them to produce carbonated wine. About one in  10 Florida wineries currently carbonate, and they use the …

compound

Compound from Soil Bacterium Gets Reboot as Antibiotics Super Booster

Dan Cattle, Industry News Release, Livestock, Research, USDA

(USDA/ARS) — USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and their collaborators continue garnering success in their tests of a compound that could bolster the potency of beta-lactam antibiotics, potentially reducing the dosages required and helping stave off resistance in the germs they’re meant to kill. According to Neil Price, a chemist with the ARS National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research …

uf

UF/IFAS Urban Forestry Agent Honored by National Society

Dan Florida, Forestry, Industry News Release, Research

(UF/IFAS) — In his 15 years with UF/IFAS, Extension forester Rob Northrop has worked with scientists to bring much-needed tree shade to the Tampa Bay metropolitan area. His work is now being recognized nationally. Northrop takes an ecosystem approach to planting and preserving trees and forests, which includes studying and communicating tree canopy goals in Tampa and surrounding areas. He …

decision

Decision-Support Tool Using HiPerGator May Help Manage Devastating Avocado Disease

Dan Citrus, Florida, Fruits, Industry News Release, Research, Specialty Crops

UF/IFAS researchers are working on a decision-support app to help policy makers and growers decide the best regional treatment options for laurel wilt disease, which is challenging Florida’s $35 million-a-year avocado crop. Laurel wilt disease is spread by several ambrosia beetle vectors. People, whether they grow avocados or not, can spread the beetles when they move infested wood products – …

asian giant

Asian Giant Hornets Arrive for Study and Preservation at ARS and Smithsonian Biorepository

Dan Industry News Release, Pollinators, Research, USDA

(USDA/ARS) — Five Asian giant hornets (Vespa mandarinia), from the first nest found in the United States, have taken a trip across the country to a Washington, D.C. area Agricultural Research Service (ARS) facility and the Smithsonian for study and preservation. ARS research entomologist Matt Buffington with the ARS Systematic Entomology Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, accepted delivery of the flash …

vegetable gardening guide

Popular UF/IFAS Vegetable Gardening Guide now Available in Spanish

Dan Industry News Release, Research, Vegetables

(UF/IFAS) — With COVID-19 lingering, it might be a good time to use your green thumb to grow some vegetables in your garden. While you’re at it, you can get help from the UF/IFAS Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide — now also in Spanish — and as a downloadable web app. Because we’re nearing the holidays, let’s look at some vegetables you …

fruit

Research to Prove OJ Health Benefits

Dan Citrus, Research

The Florida Citrus Commission (FCC) recently approved three research projects aimed at further proving the health benefits of orange juice (OJ) consumption. The OJ-related projects had been recommended by the commission’s Scientific Research Advisory Committee. The projects were discussed by Rosa Walsh, director of the Florida Department of Citrus (FDOC) Scientific Research Department, during the October FCC meeting. The FCC serves as the …

Plant Protection Today – Tracking the Elusive Asian Giant Hornet

Dan Citrus, Field Crops, Fruits, Industry News Release, Pest/Pest Control, Pollinators, Research, Specialty Crops, USDA, Vegetables

PPQ Shares Cutting-Edge Methods with State Partner By Greg Rosenthal (USDA/APHIS) — After weeks of searching, Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) entomologists–—with some cutting-edge methods from USDA’s Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ)–—have located and eradicated the first Asian giant hornet (AGH) nest ever found in the United States. For months, WSDA had been trying to find the nest they …

citrus nematode

Citrus Nematode and Resistant Rootstocks

Dan Citrus, Pest/Pest Control, Research

University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences professor Larry Duncan discussed the citrus nematode (Tylenchulus semipenetrans) during a recent international webinar on plant parasitic nematodes hosted by ADAMA. T. semipenetrans has a worldwide geographical distribution, making it the most common plant parasitic nematode of citrus. According to Duncan, this pest is ….. Read more about Citrus Nematode and Resistant Rootstocks …