By: Megan Baisden, Evolutionary Biology and Ecology Major

When I was younger, I would have laughed at you if you tried to tell me that science and spirituality weren’t mutually exclusive. I was under the impression that spirituality and religion had the same definition and would have argued exactly so.

My New Year’s resolution was to take a deeper look into my opinions. To me, spirituality is something that is free from structure and is what we can use to dig deeper and extend ourselves, it’s multidimensional. It really involves personal, subjective experiences. I’ve concluded that science can be a source of spirituality.

Out amongst the stars, there are things we can’t even imagine or understand yet. The simple fact that matter cannot be created or destroyed and that we are the result of ancient stars dying is mind-blowing. I try to recognize my place in this and see the beauty of the passage of time between then and now.

Without everything that has happened to bring us to current times, we wouldn’t have music, art or literature. Without evolution, none of these things could have ever happened. When you take a second to appreciate all the small changes in DNA or the extreme weather events that have brought us to this exact moment in time, it will amaze you.

One of the most astonishing things is that with all the protests currently occurring all over the world, so many acts of courage are a result of billions of years of change. We can create thoughts and opinions and then go out and do something with them.

Saying that science and spirituality are separate really does a disservice to both. They’re both more complete with the presence of the other.

I think the world would be a much better place if we were all capable of stopping for a moment to examine the significance of our existence. It brings even the most different of people together and could make the problems of the world seem so much less important. We are more together than we think.

About the author:
I am a 23 year old recent college grad who is currently exploring different life paths and grad school options. I’m also going on adventures all summer and taking time to look at the stars and read some good books.

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This blog post was an assignment for Societal Issues: Pesticides, Alternatives and the Environment (PLNTPTH 4597). The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the class, Department of Plant Pathology or the instructor.

by Grant Hodge, Sustainable Plant Systems majior

Rice Blast is a fungal disease of rice that causes brown lesions on the leaves. Rice blast is responsible for huge yield losses which affect millions of people world-wide. The lesions are diamond shaped and affect the ability of the plant to produce its maximum potential of seed. This disease is intensely studied around the world and damages the economies of rice-growing countries.

What does it look like?

A sign of rice blast is the diamond shaped lesions which can be found on all parts of the plant including the seeds.

What do we know?

There is lots of research currently being done on this particular disease and so there is lots of information out there on it. Rice blast is an ascomycete disease and has a pretty complicated disease cycle which is one of the reasons that this disease is so difficult to control. Rice blast can reproduce sexually and asexually so successful control options may be specific to each case.

Management

To manage this disease requires a complicated series of control measures for successful control. Most of this control is standard for the majority of diseases such as crop rotation, ensuring proper fertility, and planting disease free, clean seed. One unique management strategy is to make sure that the water level is maintained at the proper height so the rice plants are not stressed and are less susceptible to the disease. Now with genetic engineering there are not resistant cultivars of rice that have had great success at preventing the presence of the disease in the field. If the disease cannot be prevented and an outbreak occurs, there are fungicides that can be sprayed to keep the disease under control and protect the quantity and the quality of the rice being produced. This disease can be managed it just requires a lot of work and knowledge to be successful at it.

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This blog post was an assignment for Societal Issues: Pesticides, Alternatives and the Environment (PLNTPTH 4597). The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the class, Department of Plant Pathology or the instructor.

by Porter Vanderpuije, Economics major

by Skyler Foos, Sustainable Plant Systems major

1996 was quite the year in Agriculture, especially the biotechnology world.  One of the greatest traits planted by millions of farmers on billions of acres, Roundup Ready 1 for soybeans. With it being one of the biggest discoveries, of course, Monsanto had patented the genetics.

Fifteen years later, in 2015, that patent had expired. This had been a game changer, now you could save seed. Instead of buying the seed, you could save the seed or even buy it from another grower saving a lot of input cost leading to higher return, and well everyone loves more money.

Now some of you might be wondering why you why haven’t farmers been able to save the seed to begin with. Well, the original technology was patented by Monsanto, and as customers of Monsanto all growers sign a contract stating that they won’t save seed to plant the following year, breaking of this contract can lead to serious legal action.

Now, since the patent has expired, legally you can save the seed. As of spring the RR1 trait had expired but only select varieties were available, Monsanto made multiple different trait combination throughout the year and each combination may be patented as a variety. So, to plant some varieties you’re going to have to wait for each patent to expire. But the RR1 technology is free to use.

www.monsanto.com/newsviews/pages/roundup-ready-patent-expiration.aspx

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This blog post was an assignment for Societal Issues: Pesticides, Alternatives and the Environment (PLNTPTH 4597). The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the class, Department of Plant Pathology or the instructor.

By Brenna Scheiderer, Sustainable Plant Systems major

A plant health issue that has affected the United States is Dutch elm disease. This fungal disease was introduced to the States and Europe and has caused devastation to the elm population. This is due to elms not having any resistance to the disease. This pathogen for the disease has been spread by movement of timber and the elm bark beetle.

Dutch elm was first introduced in 1928. It was believed that the disease came over on a boat of timber intended to be used to make furniture. The timber contained the elm bark beetles that then infected elms in the states. The beetles act as a vector by carrying the pathogen for Dutch elm and infecting healthy elms. Once the tree is infected its xylem (water conducting tissue) becomes blocked/ plugged so nutrients do not reach other parts of the tree. Soon after the tree begins to die off.

To help prevent the spread of this disease from spreading it’s important to recognize what is being handled or moved. By keeping any timber form elm trees from moving and infecting other trees is an important way of preventing the spread of the disease. Another way to treat for Dutch elm is to prune back sick trees and remove the infected areas.

There has also been a use of insecticides to control the beetles and keeping them from infecting any healthy elm trees. The insecticides do slow the spread of the disease but it does come with some problems. There was a report of a large number of birds being killed by ingesting the infected beetles.

What makes Dutch elm disease so important is how its killing of the elm trees that we find so attractive in the United States. The wood of the tree isn’t as important as how we like how it looks physically in the landscape.

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This blog post was an assignment for Societal Issues: Pesticides, Alternatives and the Environment (PLNTPTH 4597). The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the class, Department of Plant Pathology or the instructor.

by Bradley Slyder, Plant Pathology major

This summer I have been blessed enough to gain an internship as a field scout, unfortunately, this job was a lot “cooler”  than I expected it to be.

Photos by Bradley Slyder.

According to weather.gov, the only dry spell for my areaaccrued from April 11-17. To add to that on the 19^th of April we had “One of the worst flash flood events in . . . History.”  To make things even worse for the crop, this storm brought very cold temperatures to the region for weeks to come making the perfect combination for seedling diseases.

The image above is one I took while scouting a corn field that was planted in mid May. As you can see, there are large spots where the corn is either in very low growth stages, or simply has not emerged at all. This was most likely because of the saturated ground and cool temperatures causing a delay in emergence and germination.

After I went on to investigate further I found that many of these seedlings had also been affected by Penicillium rot root (image below), killing off large amounts of fields. Because of this, the population counts vary greatly throughout the field. Many of the corn fields affected by these seedling diseases range from only 7,000 to 35,000 plants per acre. By my estimates, nearly 70-80% of farmers in my area are replanting all, or most of their corn fields due to this problem.

However, this does not mean the end for agriculture. Nearly every field I’ve scouted that have been planted in late May had very good, even population counts (image below). However because of this problem I suspect many farmers will be holding into their crop longer than usual waiting for higher corn prices to be able to make a profit on this year’s corn.

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My name is Brad Slyder, I am currently a junior at The Ohio State University majoring in Plant Pathology with a minor in Agronomy.

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This blog post was an assignment for Societal Issues: Pesticides, Alternatives and the Environment (PLNTPTH 4597). The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the class, Department of Plant Pathology or the instructor.

Fig. 1. Fireblgiht (Flicker 2017)

by Deniz Ozkardas, Psychology major

For most of us, freezing and burning are polar opposites, however in plant world they might be the actors in a fruit loss resulting in exportation concerns. In this blog, I will be researching two factors ice nucleation active (Ice+) bacteria and fire blight to understand how pear and quince fruits get affected in Turkey.

Fireblight (Erwinia amylovora) is a disease affecting members of the rose family which causes a dying-back and browning of shoots and leaves.

However, quinces are less suscpectible to this than many other members of the family (Don, p.403,2009).

Ice nucleating organisms is a group (such as Pseudomonas syringae) that ‘attack plants through frost damage using specialized ice-nucleating proteins’ (Pandey et al,2016). The researchers also note that information such as structure are limited although their interactions with biology and environmental science are bring researched such as fireblight.

– Effect of Fireblight in Turkey

Samsunlu55 : a local from Samsun Turkey in the forum Agaclar.net for plants wrote that the disease stopped the production of Quince fruit. (Latin: Cydonia vulgaris Pers.)  He literally described the process as flowers burning with their leaves and their fruits.

The exportation of pears declined from 677.843 to 419.445  kg in one year (April 2016-April 2017) . Interestingly, the pear exportation was 192.025 kg in April 2015 and was in steady increase since April 2013.

Bursa, which is in the recent rise for pear growth with exports to Germany, Russia, France, Italy and Middle East (Bursadabugun,2017), had frostiness in the region affecting it’s growth heavily.

Yogurt, who is a farmer in Bursa, says that they can’t even eat pear let alone exporting and the rendement decreased from 150-200 to 20-30 kg in their establishment. A 2007 post from Agaclar.net also commented that he lost 800 pear trees in 3 years at Sapanca, Turkey.

– Ice Nucleation Active Bacteria and Firebight

Lindow et al (1996), noted that the ability of supercooling in pears (process preventing frostation) is blocked by ice nucleation active (Ice+) bacteria appearing in many regions. It was furthermore noted that this disease can occur at the same time with fire blight.

This raises the question of whether fireblight or ice nucleation active bacteria are the one to blame. Still, it affects the produce from local to international scale (through commerce) and impacts economy.

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Bibliography

Agaclar.net. (2017). Ates yanikligi hastaligi (Erwinia amylovora) – agaclar.net. [online] Available at: http://www.agaclar.net/forum/genel-bitki-koruma/4868.htm [Accessed 4 Jun. 2017].

Bursada Bugün. (2017). Bursa’da armut verimi düştü. [online] Available at: http://www.bursadabugun.com/haber/bursa-da-armut-verimi-dustu-705553.html [Accessed 27 May  2017].

Don, M. (2009). The complete gardener. 1st ed. London: Dorling Kindersley.

Flickr. (2017). Fire blight. [online] Available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/oregonstateuniversity/13742920923 [Accessed 4 Jun. 2017].

Pandey, R., Usui, K., Livingstone, R., Fischer, S., Pfaendtner, J., Backus, E., Nagata, Y., Fro hlich-Nowoisky, J., Schmu ser, L., Mauri, S., Scheel, J., Knopf, D., Po schl, U., Bonn, M. and Weidner, T. (2017). Ice-nucleating bacteria control the order and dynamics of interfacial water.

Lindow, S. E., McGourty, G., & Elkins, R. (1996). Interactions of antibiotics with Pseudomonas fluorescens strain A506 in the control of fire blight and frost injury to pear. Phytopathology, 86(8), 841-848.

Yms.org.tr. (2017). DEĞERLENDİRME RAPORLARI. [online] Available at: http://www.yms.org.tr/tr/istatistikler.html [Accessed 27 May 2017].

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This blog post was an assignment for Societal Issues: Pesticides, Alternatives and the Environment (PLNTPTH 4597). The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the class, Department of Plant Pathology or the instructor.

by Abigail Hill, Sustainable Plant Systems major

Vomitoxin is the mycotoxin (fungal toxin) produced by Fusarium head blight, also known as head scab. As its name suggests, vomitoxin can cause vomiting and refusal to eat if consumed by livestock. According to The Ohio State College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), levels of vomitoxin exceeding 1-5ppm (part per million) are unfit for human and livestock consumption. CFAES also states that there is a near zero tolerance for vomitoxin in malt barley, which is used to make beer.

Head blight effects small grain crops such as wheat, oats, barley, and grasses like foxtail and bluegrass. These crops are used in making flour, bread, beer, and oats. These crops not only feed humans, but also livestock. Vomitoxins affect pigs more than other animals. Grain elevators have thresholds of how much ppm of vomitoxin they accept to try and prevent illness.

If the weather is wet and humid during the flowering stage of the crops, the infection is most likely to develop. The blight reduces yield and effects the quality of the product. Infected spikelets that make up the heads of these small grain crops, will turn a light tan/grey/brown color (depending on the crop), while the rest of the head remains green. If the infection has taken into the stem, the whole head and stem will die. Perithecia, the body that spores are discharged from, will survive the winter and will continue to grow and produce spores until decomposing in the soil.

Management factors that might help with the prevention of head blight are: Planting resistant varieties, practicing crop rotation, and spraying fungicides. There are no varieties that are completely resistant to head blight, so using more than one management plan is necessary in trying to avoid the development of this disease.

If you are interested in learning more about Head Blight and Vomitoxin, click the link below.

http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/ohiofieldcropdisease/images/PLPTH-CER-06_Fusarium_Head_Blight_2016.pdf

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Abigail Hill is a student at The Ohio State University, majoring in Sustainable Plant Systems: Agronomy, with a minor in Agricultural Systems Management. She is the Vice President of the Ducks Unlimited club on campus. She was born and raised on a family farm in central Ohio.  She is currently working as an Ohio State Extension Intern in Pickaway and Madison Counties.

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This blog post was an assignment for Societal Issues: Pesticides, Alternatives and the Environment (PLNTPTH 4597). The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the class, Department of Plant Pathology or the instructor.

by Adam Cordy, Sustainable Plant Systems major

Herbicide resistance of common ragweed has increased in recent years in Ohio. Typically, it is resistance to the Group 2, 9, or 14 herbicides (groups based primarily on the herbicide mode of action – in essence, how it acts to kill weeds). No cases of resistance to all three herbicides have been reported yet but at times there have been cases of a combination of these three herbicides.

There shouldn’t be much of an issue controlling common ragweed in corn. In soybeans it can be harder because of the herbicides available to use. An effective herbicide burndown of 2,4-D ester can be used in a soybean crop if it is applied 2 weeks before planting. The best thing to do is to have a combination of preemerge and postemerge herbicides with different modes of actions to battle the weed. Follow guidelines for recommended preemergence herbicides that can help control herbicide resistant common ragweed. Postemergence herbicides can also be effective on controlling common ragweed.

When spraying, weeds should be sprayed before they get much over 6 inches in height. Anything past that can be too mature to effectively be controlled with herbicides.

Tillage can also significantly increase control of the weed. One of the most overlooked aspects is crop rotation. A solid crop rotation and integrated pest management program are the best bet to control herbicide resistant common ragweed.

Reference:

Loux, Mark M., Doug Doohan, Anthony F. Dobbels, William G. Johnson, Bryan G. Young, Travis R. Legleiter, and Aaron Hager. Weed Control Guide for Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Columbus: Ohio State U Extension, 2015. Print.

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This blog post was an assignment for Societal Issues: Pesticides, Alternatives and the Environment (PLNTPTH 4597). The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the class, Department of Plant Pathology or the instructor.