Resistance to fungicides is a concern with cucumber downy mildew, Pseudoperonospora cubensis clade 2. These fungicides still suppressed downy mildew well enough that yields of marketable-sized fruit of a susceptible slicing cucumber were much better than not spraying.
CucCAP Team News
Contributions to the CucCAP project by the Bioinformatics Team, Cucurbit Crop Breeding Teams, and the Integrated Disease Management Team.
Early Career Scientist Spotlight | Libby Indermaur
I am identifying which of Michael Mazourek’s Cucurbita moschata and C. maxima breeding lines are: 1) resistant to powdery mildew and 2) candidate replacements for the susceptible cultivars used in the processing industry.
Cucurbit Disease Management Factsheets | MSU
These fact sheets are updated anually and posted on the Hausbeck lab website at Michigan State University.
Cucurbit Downey Mildew present in multiple regions
Reports of the presence of Cucurbit downy mildew were published by Plant Pathologists in North America.
Cucurbit Genetics Cooperative Reports #44 & 45
CucCAP researchers evaluate disease control options for downy mildew on pickling cucumber
Cucurbit downy mildew (CDM), is an economically significant disease of cucurbitaceous crops in the Eastern United States (US). Cucumbers are particularly susceptible and as a result, disease management of this pathogen relies heavily on fungicide use.
Early Career Scientist Spotlight | Bidisha Chanda
Before her current position as a Genetic Purity Lab Manager in the Quality Assurance Department at Sakata Seed America, Inc., in Salinas California, Bidisha Chanda worked for the USDA and conducted research for the CucCAP watermelon team at the US Vegetable Laboratory in Charleston, South Carolina.
CucCAP scientists examine mechanisms of watermelon resistance to viral infection
Watermelon production in the U.S. and around the world faces serious threats by viral diseases, including aphid-transmitted potyviruses: papaya ringspot virus (PRSV) and zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV). In a recent study, a CucCAP team examined expression of anti-microbial/anti-viral, ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) in watermelons in response to inoculation with PRSV. The PRSV-resistant citron watermelon (Citrullus amarus) exhibited high RIP expression, versus low expression in plants of the susceptible, cultivated “Charleston Gray” watermelon. This finding may offer additional genetic and genomic resources for improving potyvirus-resistance in watermelon cultivars.
