Location: Horticultural Crops Disease and Pest Management Research Unit
Project Number: 2072-22000-046-014-R
Project Type: Reimbursable Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 1, 2020
End Date: Aug 31, 2025
Objective:
1. Determine prevalence of boxwood blight disease in Oregon's boxwood nursery industry.
2. Determine how Oregon's seasonal weather patterns and environmental parameters (temperature, light, humidity) affect boxwood blight disease development.
Approach:
For Objective 1, 20 boxwood nurseries will be evaluated over 4 years for the presence of boxwood blight disease. Samples will be collected from nursery production areas and evaluated for the boxwood blight pathogen, Calonectria pseudonaviculata, using cultural methods (moist chambers) and DNA-detection methods (PCR). Data will be collected on the number of boxwood blight detections. Isolates collected from Objective 1 will be used to conduct Objective 2.
For Objective 2, boxwood plants will be inoculated with isolates of C. pseudonaviculata from Objective 1 at multiple time points throughout the year to determine how seasonal weather patterns affect boxwood blight disease development. Based on the time of year when disease develops, more targeted studies will be conducted in growth chambers to evaluate how temperature, light, and humidity affect specific aspects of disease.
