Subject: Re: [SANET-MG] BBC NEWS | UK | England | Tyne/Wear | Researchers hail organic potatoes

From: Douglas Hinds <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2007 18:02:48 +0200

John D'hondt wrote:

> so far my own spuds, mixture of many varieties, are healthy enough
> where it seems that many professional growers in Ireland are
> plowing their blighted crops under at this moment in one of the
> most blight prone years seen for a long time. Seems that gallons
> of Dithane did not save them.

This is what the dowagro.com website says about it's specialty
fungicide dithane:

  Attention: This product contains mancozeb and ETU, chemicals known
  to the state of California to cause cancer. ETU is also known to
  the state of California to cause birth defects or other
  reproductive harm.

Non-selective, cancer causing fungicides are not the answer.
The future of agriculture requires a different mentality.

Where fungal blight is a problem, try inoculating seed potatoes with
Pitholithus Tintorius, a beneficial fungus known to promote plant
growth and produce substances with antibiotic activity against
pathological fungi.

-- 

Douglas

********************************************************
To unsubscribe from SANET-MG:
1- Visit http://lists.sare.org/archives/sanet-mg.html to unsubscribe or;
2- Send a message to <[email-masked]> from the address subscribed to the list. Type "unsubscribe sanet-mg" in the body of the message.

Visit the SANET-MG archives at: http://lists.sare.org/archives/sanet-mg.html.
Questions? Visit http://www.sare.org/about/sanetFAQ.htm.
For more information on grants and other resources available through the SARE program, please visit http://www.sare.org.

---

From: Douglas Hinds <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2007 19:38:31 +0200

Katherine Marsh wrote from Ireland:

> Sarpo Axona has just started to go down with blight here in north
> Dublin, Sarpo Mira is still clear, as is Symfonia. Lady Eve
> Balfour survived to this week but showed the first signs of blight
> three days ago. I've taken the individual damaged leaves off and I
> think it will keep growing and make a worthwhile crop. Across the
> road sixty acres of Rooster which have been sprayed with Dithane
> at many times the legal limit are being ploughed in today.

Does history have to repeat itself? Phytophthora attacks the roots
of the pineapple plant and substances produced by the beneficial
fungus Pisolithus Tinctorius are specifically active against it.

This is good re Phytophthora infestans:
<http://www.tigr.org/tdb/e2k1/pima1/index.shtml>
(My comments are interspaced 2 spaces to the left)

  Late blight caused by Phytophthora infestans is a devastating
  disease of potato and tomato in the U.S. and worldwide. Epidemics
  due to P. infestans in 1845 led to the Irish potato famine and the
  mass migration and death of millions of people in Ireland. Late
  blight is now considered a re-emerging disease and has reached
  epidemic proportions in North America and Europe due to the
  development of resistance to the fungicide metalaxyl in
  populations of the pathogen and the widespread occurrence of new
  genotypes.

Fungicides can't change their actions but beneficial organisms can
continue to adapt to any changes the pathogen develops.

  The pathogen causes a destructive foliar blight and
  also infects potato tubers and tomato fruit under cool, moist
  conditions.

That's where a compost tea containing P. Tintorius would fit in.
  
  ... P. infestans was ranked number two by the American
  Phytopathological Society on the list of plant pathogen species
  targeted for DNA sequencing and whole genome sequencing is now
  underway at the Whitehead Institute at MIT. There is a large
  database of genetic information available on P. infestans
  including a genetic linkage map and expressed sequence tag (EST)
  libraries and genetic systems are tractable.

They are attempting to study this pathogen in a vacuum. Studying
it's interactions with other organisms would be much more useful.

  In addition, the Phytophthora research community holds regular
  meetings and exchanges information freely and has formed the
  Phytophthora Molecular Genetic Network whose goal is to facilitate
  the exchange of information and resources related to Phytophthora
  molecular genetics.

Are they looking for the factors that make it a pathogen?
  
  ... One tool that would be of use to scientists and growers would
  be the ability to rapidly genotype isolates of the pathogen.
  Haplotypes could be correlated with virulence

They are.

  and resistance to pesticides

But why limit remediation to chemical solutions that ignore the
causative factors and fail to deal with them? Instead of modifying
the environment in positive ways, this approach worsens
environmental quality and weakens it's equilibrium, diminishing the
presence, activity and diversity of the soil microorganisms
responsible for soil organisms are also responsible for capturing
and facilitating the assimilation of nutrients by plants, as well as
growth-stimulating phyto-hormones and substances with anti-biotic
activity against pathogens.

  and used in epidemiological studies
  
  In addition, whole mitochondrial genome sequence analysis will be
  useful in studies to examine molecular evolution in the pathogen.

It would be more useful if it's interactions with other species were
taken into account, also.

...

  Project Members

  # Jean Beagle Ristaino, Professor, Plant Pathology, N. C. State Univ., [email-masked]
  # C. Robin Buell, Associate Investigator, The Institute for Genomic Research, [email-masked]
  # Luis Alpizar Gomez, Graduate assistant, NCSU, [email-masked]
  # Shu Ouyang, Bioinformatics Analyst, TIGR, [email-masked]

I am sending a copy of this to each of them.

-- 

Douglas Hinds
Coordinador Nacional de Producción Organica
Confederacion Nacional de Propietarios Rurales

Chair, Organic Pineapple Working Group
International Society for Horticultural Science
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/opwg

Dir. Gral.
Centro para el Desarrollo Comunitario y Rural, A.C.

---

From: Douglas Hinds <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2007 23:39:40 +0200

Jean Ristaino wrote:

> I am reading your comments and am wondering where you are going
> with this.

Toward biocontrol of Phytophthora using the beneficial fungus
Pisolithus Tinctorius, which produces substances with antibiotic
activity contra Phytophthora, according to sources I found in
Medline (if I recall - I was using Uncover, I believe), a biomedical
database, in 1998. (I don't have the details on this computer).

> Who is Katherine Marsh?

Both Katherine Marsh and I have subscribed to the Sustainable
Agriculture Network Discussion Group (SANET) for many years.
SANET is funded by SARE and has about 1000 subscribers, including
many academics. Dr. Joel Gruver (who was at NCSU if I recall), also
subscribes, for instance.

Visit the SANET-MG archives at: http://lists.sare.org/archives/sanet-mg.html.
Questions? Visit http://www.sare.org/about/sanetFAQ.htm.
For more information on grants and other resources available through the SARE program, please visit
http://www.sare.org.

I don't remember exactly what Katherine does, but both she and John
D hondt (also in Ireland) mentioned that potato blight has been
particularly destructive there this year, particularly to those
fields cultivated relying on chemical inputs rather than biological
processes.

> Who are you and what are your interests in the disease?

I am Coordinador Nacional de Producción Organica
Confederacion Nacional de Propietarios Rurales

I also Chair the Organic Pineapple Working Group of the
International Society for Horticultural Science
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/opwg

and am Director General of the
Centro para el Desarrollo Comunitario y Rural, A.C.
located in Guadalajara, Jalisco Mexico

My interest in Phytophthora stems from the fact that it attacks the
roots of the pineapple plant.

Although the INIFAP (Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones
Forestales y Agropecuarios - the research arm of Mexico's Agriculture
Secretariat), recommends dipping the roots of pineapple transplants
in fungicide, inoculating their roots with Pisolithus Tintorius
would be a more selective and therefore more appropriate solution,
as well as one that is less likely to create resistance.

> I wrote a proposal a few years back to look at alternatives to
> pesticides for late blight control and was not funded. I have
> interests in this area - but no funding yet.

Your proposal sounds good to me - I hope the sources you solicited
funds from realize soon that your proposal was sound and merits
their support.

Be sure and check out the SARE site for additional sources of
funding.

Thank you for your response.

Douglas Hinds

---------

---

From: jcummins <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2007 12:04:44 -0400

Hi Sals and others interested in Pisolithus Tinctorius.The comments on 
the fungus for Phytopthora control were very interesting. I found that   
fungus is an Ectomycorrhizal Fungus, one that inhabits the roots of 
plants as a symbiont. The fruiting structure of the fungus has given the 
fungus the name "dog turd" because of its appearance not smell. A good 
deal of work is published on controlling Phytopthora in Eucalyptus  but 
not much on potato. I am not sure why the potato is underrepresented in 
use of Pisolithus Tinctorius, potato. Of course finding the fruiting 
bodies of the fungus on the store produce display might be one reason 
the fungus is shunned but another reason may be the fact that the fungus 
is very allergenic. I have enclosed a couple of abstracts below. 
Sincerely, joe cummins
http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/jun2003.html
Tom Volk's Fungus of the Month for June 2003

This month's fungus is Pisolithus tinctorius, the "dog turd" fungus, 
also known in more polite company as the dyemaker's puffball. This 
fungus is not growing directly on the feces, but is mycorrhizal with the 
roots of nearby trees. i.e. it forms a mutualistic association with the 
roots of trees. I am guessing there are oaks or conifers like pine or 
spruce nearby. I am guessing that the wolf feces are providing some 
extra nutrients to the fungus and allowing it to fruit in that area. The 
added water from the runoff is also making the fungus fruit in that area.

 Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo. 1997 Sep-Oct;39(5):245-52.Links
    Evaluation of the allergenicity of spore and mycelia extracts of 
Pisolithus tinctorius.
    Chavasco JK, Gambale W, de Siqueira AM, Fiorini JE, Portocarrero MC, 
Mendes Júnior LG, do Nascimento LC.

    Escola de Farmácia e Odontologia de Alfenas (EFOA), Brazil.

    The antigenic and allergenic chemical analysis of spore and mycelia 
extracts of Pisolithus tinctorius was carried out. The spores were 
collected from basidiocarps in plantations of Eucalyptus spp and the 
mycelia from culture in MNM medium. With basis on the fungus growth 
curve, the mycelia masses were obtained after 10, 20, 30, and 40 days of 
incubation, which correspond, respectively, to the beginning, middle and 
end of the log phase, and beginning of the decline phase. The mycelia 
masses, together with the spores, were submitted to the action of three 
extractors (Coca, Tris-HCl, and ammonium bicarbonate). The contents of 
carbohydrates and proteins were determined. The SDS-PAGE 
electrophoretical analysis revealed separate fractions in these 
extracts, besides common fractions, in function of cultivation time and 
extraction methods. The selected extracts for the allergic tests were 
the ones with the highest number of fractions. The prick-tests were 
conducted in 374 patients--rural workers, eucalyptus plantation workers, 
and college students. The positivity to the "prick test" with the 
antigenic extract of P. tinctorius was, respectively, 3.78%, 28.20% and 
6.40%. Most prick-test positive patients (82.75%) also presented 
symptoms of respiratory allergy (asthma and rhinitis). There was no 
reactivity difference when the spore and mycelia extracts were employed. 
The analysis of the positive patients' sera revealed the presence of IgE 
specific to the P. tinctorius antigens. Since Pisolithus tinctorius is 
found as mycorrhiza of Eucalyptus spp, and this plant is used in 
reforestation in most countries, the importance of that fungus should be 
regarded as a possible cause of respiratory allergies, especially in 
occupationally exposed workers.

    <http://www.nifg.org.uk/ecto.htm>

sals wrote:
> where do you buy your beneficial fungus and any other life forms your 
> raising when you make the tea what do you feed while brewing.  what 
> all goes into the tea?
> 2- Send a message to <[email-masked]> from the address subscribed 
> to the list. Type "unsubscribe sanet-mg" in the body of the message.
>
> Visit the SANET-MG archives at: 
> http://lists.sare.org/archives/sanet-mg.html.
> For more information on grants and other resources available through 
> the SARE program, please visit http://www.sare.org.

---

From: Douglas Hinds <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2007 22:25:31 +0200

After being asked where I was going, I said:

>> Medline (if I recall - I was using Uncover, I believe), a
>> biomedical database, in 1998. (I don't have the details on this
>> computer).

Sal then asked:

> where do you buy your beneficial fungus and any other life forms
> your raising when you make the tea

Pisolithus Tintorius can be obtained from: Plant Health Care, Inc.,
Pittsburgh, PA <www.planthealthcare.com/> (They sell: MycorTree PT
Spore Spray)

There may be other sources available.

http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/jun2003.html
  Pisolithus tinctorius is a mycorrhizal fungus, which means that it
  gets its nutrition in a mutualistic association with the roots of
  trees, mostly with conifers, but sometimes oaks. Remember that in a
  mycorrhizal association such as this, both partners benefit. This
  fungus is very useful in reclamation and reforestation of disturbed
  and poor soils, such as strip mines. It can survive low pH (high
  acidity), high concentrations of heavy metals, and high soil
  temperatures in the summer, along with the accompanying drought. It
  is also useful in the restrictive environment of nurseries. It seems
  to be a "super-mycorrhiza," and inoculum of "P.t." in the form of
  spores can be commercially purchased. So even in the "world's
  ugliest fungus" there is still some good.

> what do you feed while brewing.

> what all goes into the tea?

I haven't got that far yet.

-- 

Douglas

---

From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2007 23:50:08 -0400

> I haven't got that far yet.

When used with potatoes how is Pisolithus Tinctorius applied? to the seed potatoes before planting? segmented or whole? 
after planting? Is Pisolithus Tinctorius best applied 1)alone, i.e. according to manufacturer's directions? or 2)in 
compost tea? If 2) how/when is it added to the tea? What compost tea ingredients would be beneficial a)to Pisolithus 
Tinctorius and/or b)in combination with Pisolithus Tinctorius, to plants the tea is applied to. What compost tea 
ingredients would be harmful to, or not beneficial to, Pisolithus Tinctorius?

LL
-- 
Lawrence F. London, Jr.
Venaura Farm
[email-masked]
http://venaurafarm.blogspot.com/
http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech/market-farming