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Preventing Phytophthora contamination in a nursery and its potential dispersal into the natural environment
Agnes Simamora completed her PhD with the CPSM in 2017. The final paper from her PhD thesis has now been published. Phytophthora species have the potential to infect horticultural, forestry and native plants. The most effective and economical way to control the spread of these pathogens is good hygiene practice in the nursery. Once introduced, eradication of plant pathogens is extremely difficult and costly. A forensic-style investigation of a eucalypt nursery to find the pathogen causing production losses uncovered a newly-described Phytophthora species. This pathogen produces resistant resting structures that survive without a host and can survive out-planting. They can only be destroyed by steam sterilisation of used trays filled with potting mix and implementation of this practice has completely eradicated the pathogen from the nursery. This work highlights the importance of the nursery industry using effective sterilisation techniques to prevent the unintentional spread of pathogens into natural ecosystems. The full paper can be found on Researchgate. We thank Parnells nursery for allowing us to conduct this study.
>> Read the full paper on Researchgate.
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