Up: NJ Plants - Speaker Bios

Dr. Ann Gould - Rutgers University

Course Title: BLS Update: TLC for our Oaks and Others
NJ Credits: 2 - 3A, 2 - 6B
NY Credits: 1 - 3A, 1 - 25

Course Description:
Bacterial leaf scorch (BLS) affects many different shade tree species such as American elm, red maple, sweet gum, sycamore and London plane, and a number of species of oak. The disease has been identified throughout NJ’s urban forest and has caused widespread decline of affected trees and urban forest communities. BLS is one of a group of diseases caused by Xylella fastidiosa, a bacterial pathogen with a very wide host range, and causes diseases with two basic types of symptomology (leaf scorch or stunt) in a number of economically important hosts. X. fastidiosa also resides in "alternative" hosts, many of them common landscape ornamentals and weeds, where no discernible symptoms of disease may occur. X. fastidiosa lives in the xylem tissues of host plants, and the bacterium is transmitted (or vectored) by insects that feed on xylem fluid, such as leafhoppers or sharpshooters. Dr. Gould’s research on the lifecycle of this important disease, its rapid spread across NJ, susceptible species, symptomology, vector lifecycle research, host decline, and susceptibility to secondary organisms will be presented.

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