NEWS FROM
PHYSIOLOGIA PLANTARUM
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Published monthly on behalf of SPPS by Wiley-Blackwell.
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Vine disease causes senescence
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Pierce's disease has become a major problem for wine growers in California and Central America. It is caused by the bacterial pathogen Xylella fastidiosa that uses leafhoppers for transmission. In diseased plants, a gel like substance forms in the xylem tissue and leaves turn yellow and brown. It is generally believed that symptoms arise from occlusion of xylem conduits but this may not be so according to new research conducted by Brendan Choat and colleagues at University of California, Davis. They measured leaf hydraulic conductance (i.e. how easy water is transported) in infected and uninfected Vitis vinifera cv. Chardonnay under different irrigation regimes and found that susceptibility to Pierce's disease was apparently favored by water stress. In addition, hydraulic conductance of infected leaves from field-grown vines was similar to naturally senescing leaves. From these results the researchers concluded that infection of X. fastidiosa leads to a systemic response that accelerates senescence.
Read full article free: Choat et al. (March 2009) Physiologia Plantarum 136: 384-394
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NEWS IN BRIEF
FROM OTHER JOURNALS
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Sex may improve industrial production
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Source: Seidl et al. (18 August 2009) PNAS 106: 13909-13914
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Orchid smells like prey
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Source: Brodmann et al (25 August 2009) Current Biology 19: 1-5
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Hope you enjoyed the summer!
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SPPS Newsletter is back after the summer.
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SPPS welcomes you back to the lab from a - hopefully nice, long - summer vacation. This issue of SPPS Newsletter is just a short one, but we will be back already in September with news from the Executive Board Meeting which will be held in the last week of August.
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