A3O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 22, 2002
Friendly Bacteria Help
Fight Potato Rot Fungi
PEORIA, 111. Soil-dwelling
bacteria are scientists’ latest
weapon against an unsightly
post-harvest disease called dry
rot that costs U.S. potato growers
as much as $250 million annually
in tuber losses.
Agricultural Research Service
scientists Patricia Slininger,
David Schisler and colleagues are
testing the bacteria as a biological
alternative to thiabendazole
(TBZ), a chemical fungicide
that’s losing its effectiveness
against Fusarium sambucinum,
the main culprit behind dry rot.
Through ARS, its in-house re
search agency, the U.S. Depart
ment of Agriculture holds two
patents on the bacteria as biologi
cal dry rot control agents. A third
patent covers their use to inhibit
sprouting, another costly potato
storage problem.
The two scientists began ex
ploring* the bacteria’s biocontrol
potential in 1994, when a third
ARS researcher, Ann Desjardens,
reported TBZ resistance in 90
percent of dry rot strains she iso
lated from potato fields.
At ARS’ National Center for
Agricultural Utilization Research
in Peoria, 111., Slininger and
Schisler researched different
physical and nutritional condi-
Swenson Speaks On Important
Water And Ag Issues
STATE COLLEGE (Centre
Co.) Leland Swenson, past
president of the National Farm
ers Union, spoke at the Great
Lakes Forum on Agriculture here
last week to a delegation of agri
culture commissioners from the
Northeast United States and
Canada about the importance of
water issues and agriculture.
“Water is quickly becoming a
critical issue in agriculture, even
more significant than biotechno
logy or trade,” said Swenson.
In his presentation, Swenson
explained how water issues are
growing more important, espe
cially regarding the future of the
country’s water supply. A grow
ing population with changing pri
orities is beginning to affect the
quantity, quality, distribution and
management of water, he said.
Swenson raised questions
about the abundance and scarcity
of water in different areas of the
country, the costs of recycling
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tions for mass-producing the bac
teria in liquid culture and keep
ing them viable during cold
storage.
Lab tests and trial runs in po
tato storage houses indicate that
spraying tubers with the bacteria
can diminish dry rot disease by
59 percent or more. The six Pseu
domonas and Enterobacter
strains being tested are harmless
to humans, but form a living
bandage around potato wound
sites that stymies dry rot infec
tions.
The bacteria secrete natural
antibiotics that suppress the dry
rot fungus. One such antibiotic,
indoleacetic acid, may also help
retard sprouting on stored pota
toes. Cultures of some of the bio
control bacteria seem to retard
stored potato sprouting nearly as
well as 1-methylethyl
3-chlorophenylcarbamate
(CIPC). Although used on more
than half the U.S. potato crop,
CIPC faces tighter regulation due
to concerns over its persistence in
the environment and on the
spuds.
Now that the patents are avail
able for licensing, the Peoria sci
entists are seeking a commercial
partner to adapt the technology
for market use.
water for different uses and pri
orities for water use.
“Our country’s changing prior
ities impact water availability
and quality for food production,
which, in turn, impact the struc
ture of farming,” said Swenson.
He asked the audience to weigh
how the country should prioritize
the uses of water between human
consumption, food production,
navigation, industry, energy pro
duction, wildlife and recreation.
Swenson also discussed the im
pacts that market forces, person
al water rights and government
regulations have on water re
sources.
“Our country’s priorities for
water are changing as population
centers change, as the structure
of farming changes and as we are
forced to recognize climate
change impacts. We must be pre
pared to address those changes,”
Swenson added.
In Dairy Barns
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High-Maysin Corn Available For Breeding
TIFTON, Ga. Agricultural
Research Service scientists are
accepting seed requests for new
com populations whose silks
deter caterpillar feeding with a
natural repellant called maysin.
By crossing the maysin-rich
corn with elite commercial lines,
plant breeders can eventually
provide farmers with hybrids that
will fare better against lepidopte
ran pests like the com earworm.
Its caterpillar stage causes $lOO
million annually in yield losses
and control costs.
“The high-maysin material
available now includes two com
populations,” says Neil W. Wids
trom, a geneticist in ARS’ Crop
Genetics and Breeding Research
Unit at Tifton, Georgia.
“It will be most useful to
sweet-corn breeders, since there’s
more concern about ear damage
for that crop than for dent com.”
Registration of EPM6 (a pur
ple-kerneled population) and
SIM 6 (a yellow-kemeled popula
tion) concludes 23 years of may
sin research by scientists at ARS
laboratories.
Through breeding and back
crossing, scientists took a two
pronged approach to curbing ear
worm damage. First, they select
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ed plants whose silks produce
enough maysin to stop the cater
pillar from feeding after just a
few bites.
Second, they chose plants with
tight husks that force the pest to
chew the silks before the kernels,
which don’t contain maysin.
Maysin works by binding up
certain proteins in the earworm’s
gut so that it cannot grow. But
humans, other animals, and ben
eficial insects face no danger
from maysin.
Currently, farmers battle ear
worms with chemical insecti
cides. In Florida, where half the
nation’s fresh-market sweet com
is grown, this can often mean
spraying 30-40 times a season to
ensure the blemish-free ears con
sumers desire.
But with high-maysin hybrids,
scientists predict, insecticide use
could be cut in half. Their opti
mism is rooted in laboratory and
field trials showing higher ear
worm mortality rates and less ear
damage in high-maysin com
than in nonmaysin com.
The ARS effort in Tifton, Ga.,
has demonstrated that transfer
ring maysin to silks of elite
inbred lines is feasible, says
Widstrom, adding “we’ll honor
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requests for breeder seed of the
released high-maysin population:
for at least five years.” Sample:
are limited to 100 grams, 01
about 300 to 500 seeds per re
quest.
Neil W. Widstrom is in th<
USDA-ARS Crop Genetics and
Breeding Research Unit, (229
387-2341.
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