Relationships Between Blueberry Flower Age, Pollination, and Conidial Infection by Monilinia vaccinii-corymbosi

Host Resistance to Monilinia vaccinii-corymbosi in Flowers and Fruits of Highbush Blueberry

Variation and Heritability of Phenology in the Fungus Monilinia vaccinii-corymbosi on Blueberry.

ABSTRACT The germination of field-collected pseudosclerotia and the development of apothecia from eight New Jersey populations of the mummy berry fungus Monilinia vaccinii-corymbosi were evaluated under controlled conditions in the greenhouse. Development data for apothecia were used to describe the timing of apothecium formation and to estimate broad- and narrow-sense heritabilities of fungal ...

Sequential Sampling to Assess the Incidence of Infection by Monilinia vaccinii-corymbosi in Mechanically Harvested Rabbiteye Blueberry Fruit.

ABSTRACT Blueberry fruit infected by Monilinia vaccinii-corymbosi, the causal agent of mummy berry disease, are unsuitable for use in processed food products. Fruit shipments that exceed a disease incidence threshold of 0.5% are redirected to alternative markets with substantial reductions in economic return to the producer. Because of this low tolerance, a sampling procedure with defined stati...

Phenology of Apothecium Production in Populations of Monilinia vaccinii-corymbosi from Early- and Late-Maturing Blueberry Cultivars.

ABSTRACT Pseudosclerotia were evaluated for differences in timing of apothecium development in four controlled experiments conducted over a 2-year period. In a separate experiment, conidia from 10 randomly selected isolates from both of the fungal populations were used to inoculate open flowers. Germination of pseudosclerotia produced from these artificial inoculations also was evaluated. The t...

Effectiveness of honey bees in delivering the biocontrol agent Bacillus subtilis to blueberry flowers to suppress mummy berry disease

Honey bees are important pollinators of commercial blueberries in the southeastern United States, and blueberry producers often use supplemental bees to achieve adequate fruit set. However, honey bees also vector the plant pathogenic fungus Monilinia vacciniicorymbosi which infects open blueberry flowers through the gynoecial pathway causing mummy berry disease. Here, we report the results of a...