Author
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Comstock, Jack |
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Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 12/7/2009 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Sugarcane orange rust is an economically import disease in Florida. It has caused yield losses in the major cultivar, CP 80-1743 since it was introduced in 2007. Besides causing yield losses it has also caused susceptible cultivars to be discarded from the CP-cultivar development program. Although symptoms are similar in appearance to sugarcane brown rust it can be distinguished by the lighter orange color of the pustules and apical thickening of the urediniospores. Since the introduction of Puccinea kuehnii, the causal agent orange rust was an introduction of a new pathogen into the western hemisphere it caused an impact greater than the 2000 epidemic in Australia where a new pathogenic race was the cause. Besides developing resistance using conventional approaches several molecular approaches are being investigated to detect resistance genes. Fungicides can control the disease but it best to have adequate resistance. Research is also being conducted to develop cultivars better adapted for sand soil in Florida and for biomass/bio-energy cane for production outside the present area in South Florida. |
