Selenium (Se) plays a role in human health: It is an essential trace element but can be toxic if too much is consumed. The aim of this study was to determine which species of Se are most rapidly taken up and translocated to above-ground plant tissues. Specifically, we wished to determine if organic forms of Se in an exposure solution can contribute to the amount of Se found in shoot tissue. Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum) and spring canola (Brassica napus) were grown hydroponically, and young seedlings were exposed to 0.5 or 5.0 μM Se as selenate, selenite, seleno-methionione, or seleno-cystine for ≤300 min. Canola accumulated more Se than wheat, although the difference depended on Se speciation of the exposure solution. Organic forms of Se were taken up at a greater rate than inorganic forms. When exposed to 5.0 μM Se, the rate of uptake of selenite was 1.5- (canola) or 5-fold (wheat) greater than the rate of uptake of selenate, whereas seleno-methionine was taken up 40- (canola) or 100-fold (wheat) faster and seleno-cystine 2- (wheat) to 20-fold (canola) faster. Plants exposed to seleno-methionine had the highest shoot concentrations of Se even though selenate was more mobile once taken up; in plants exposed to selenate >50% of accumulated Se was translocated to shoot tissue. Because organic forms of Se (especially seleno-methionine) can be readily taken up and translocated to above-ground tissues of wheat and canola, these Se species should be considered when attempting to predict Se accumulation in above-ground plant tissues.

The Swede midge, Contarinia nasturtii Kieffer (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), a common insect pest in Europe, is a newly invasive pest in North America that constitutes a major threat to cruciferous vegetable and field crops. Since its first identification in Ontario, Canada, in 2000, it has rapidly spread to 65 counties in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec and has recently been found in canola (one of two cultivars of rapeseed, Brassica napus L. and Brassica campestris L.) in the central Prairie region where the majority of Canada's 6.5 million ha (16 million acres) of canola is grown. The first detection of Swede midge in the United States was in 2004 in New York cabbage (Brassica oleracea L.), but it has now been found in four additional states. Here, we review the biology of Swede midge, its host plant range, distribution, economic impact, pest status, and management strategies. We provide insight into this insect's future potential to become an endemic pest of brassica crops in North America. We also proposed research needed to develop tactics for handling this invasive pest in brassica crops.

A reliable and efficient system for transformation and regeneration of 'Chardonnay' (Vitis vinifera L.) plants via microprojectile bombardment was developed. Improvements over the previous biolistic transformation system included: (1) the use of gold particles for bombardment; (2) step-wise selection at 10 then 15 mg/l kanamycin; and (3) embryo induction at 27 degrees C. Embryogenic cell cultures were either bombarded with pBI426, which contains the reporter gene gus (uidA) coding for beta-glucuronidase (GUS), or were co-bombarded with pSAN237 carrying the npt-II (neomycin phosphotransferase II) selectable marker gene, and a second plasmid with an antimicrobial peptide gene. A large number of transient (7,883 +/- 1,928) and stable (46 +/- 32) blue spots per plate at 2 and 95 days after bombardment, respectively, were obtained according to GUS expression analyses. A total of 447 putative transgenic embryos was harvested from 84 bombarded plates. From these embryos, 242 (54%) were regenerated into plants within the first year of the experiment. Southern blot analyses confirmed integration of the transgenes into the grape genome. Co-transformation was tested with four separate antimicrobial constructs. The co-transformation frequency of unlinked genes was 48% as measured by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and 56% as estimated by dot blot hybridization. Expression of the gus gene, and PCR and Southern blot analyses of npt-II and antimicrobial genes from regenerated plants document stable transformation of 'Chardonnay' and establish the parameters for highly-efficient biolistic transformation in V. vinifera.

Cercospora leaf spot (CLS), caused by Cercospora beticola, is one of the major diseases affecting productivity and profitability of beet production worldwide. Fungicides are critical for the control of this disease and one of the most commonly used products is the quinone outside inhibitor (QOI) azoxystrobin. In total, 150 C. beticola isolates were collected from two commercial processing table beet fields in Batavia, NY in 2014. The mating types of the entire population were determined, and genetic diversity of a subset of samples (n = 48) was assessed using five microsatellite loci. Sensitivity to azoxystrobin was tested using a spore germination assay. The cytochrome b gene was sequenced to check for the presence of point mutations known to confer QOI resistance in fungi. High allelic diversity (He = 0.50) and genotypic diversity (D* = 0.96), gametic equilibrium of the microsatellite loci, and equal ratios of mating types were suggestive of a mixed mode of reproduction for C. beticola. Resistance to azoxystrobin was prevalent because 41% of the isolates had values for effective concentrations reducing spore germination by 50% (EC50) > 0.2 μg/ml. The G143A mutation, known to cause QOI resistance in C. beticola, was found in isolates with EC50 values between 0.207 and 19.397 μg/ml. A single isolate with an EC50 of 0.272 μg/ml carried the F129L mutation, known to be associated with low levels of QOI resistance in fungi. This is the first report of the F129L mutation in C. beticola. The implications of these findings for the epidemiology and control of CLS in table beet fields in New York are discussed.

This paper describes the design, operation, and performance of the Biolistic ® PDS-1000/He device, which is used to transform living organisms with foreign DNA. DNA is delivered to cells in association with microscopic metal particles, called microcarriers, that are propelled at high velocity towards target tissues. The microcarriers are accelerated on a plastic cylinder, called a macrocarrier, which is driven by a shock wave of helium gas. The effectiveness of the PDS-1000/He device was tested by bombarding tobacco cell suspension cultures with microcarriers that were coated with plasmid DNA containing the B-glucuronidase (GUS) and neomycin phosphotransferase II (NPTII) genes. Two days after bombardment, there were 6835-594 cell clusters per petri plate that expressed the GUS gene. Kanamycin resistant colonies were observed 6 to 8 weeks after bombardment, at a rate of 838 ---134 colonies per bombarded plate.

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Cercospora leaf spot (CLS), caused by Cercospora beticola, is a major disease of Beta vulgaris worldwide. No sexual stage is known for C. beticola but in its asexual form it overwinters on infected plant debris as pseudostromata, and travels short distances by rain splash-dispersed conidiospores. Cercospora beticola infects a broad range of host species and may be seedborne. The relative contribution of these inoculum sources to CLS epidemics on table beet is not well understood. Pathogen isolates collected from table beet, Swiss chard and common lambsquarters in mixed-cropping farms and monoculture fields in New York and Hawaii, USA, were genotyped (n = 600) using 12 microsatellite markers. All isolates from CLS symptoms on lambsquarters were identified as C. chenopodii. Sympatric populations of C. beticola derived from Swiss chard and table beet were not genetically differentiated. Results suggested that local (within field) inoculum sources may be responsible for the initiation of CLS epidemics in mixed-cropping farms, whereas external sources of inoculum may be contributing to CLS epidemics in the monoculture fields in New York. New multiplex PCR assays were developed for mating-type determination for C. beticola. Implications of these findings for disease management are discussed.