Grape powdery mildew, caused by Erysiphe necator, is a polycyclic disease that causes economic losses related to the costs of management and damage to grapes. The epidemic begins with the release of ascospores from the overwintering cleistothecia. Understanding the conditions for cleistothecia development, maturation, and ascospore release are important to optimize initiation of fungicide applications prior to disease development, as well as maintaining ecologically conscious management practices. Graduate student Lindsey Thiessen will discuss her field experiments assessing the effect of environmental conditions and plant growth regulating hormones on cleistothecia development, and the model developed to predict ascospore release based on environmental conditions.

Date: May 9, 2016
Title: The wait for a host: Understanding Erysiphe necator overwintering and early season inoculum release
Presenter: Lindsey Thiessen, Ph.D. student, Mahaffee Lab