Laurel wilt interview today!
I did a live interview with WGCU’s Julie Glenn today. Hear the latest on the disease and efforts to fight it: http://news.wgcu.org/post/fungus-beetle-duo-threaten-florida-avocado-crop-everglades-trees
Ganoderma species complex research published today in PLoS by Andrew Loyd, PhD.
Elucidating “lucidum”: Distinguishing the diverse laccate Ganoderma species of the United States A. L. Loyd ,C. W. Barnes ,B. W. Held ,M. J. Schink ,M. E. Smith ,J. A. Smith ,R. A. Blanchette Abstract Ganoderma is a large, diverse and globally-distributed genus in the Basidiomycota that includes species causing a white rot form of wood decay on a variety of tree species. For […]
The mushroom of immortality?
New research published in Frontiers in Microbiology questions what is really in those supplements that claim to contain Ganoderma lucidum, (otherwise known as reishi in Japan and lingzhi in China), an Asian species renown as a panacea. Read more
Andrew Loyd in the MSA student spotlight
February 2018 Graduate student Andrew Loyd is featured in the student spotlight of the Mycological Society of America Student Section. Check it out!
New research out in Fungal Biology on Ganoderma wood decay
The first paper published on the great work done on the Ganoderma species complex by PhD student Andrew Loyd in the last 3 years. Expect more to follow resolving questions on the relatedness of North American species. Fungal Biology, “Elucidating wood decomposition by four species of Ganoderma from the United States”
SAFEPS 2018
The University of Florida Forest Pathology lab presented research on laurel wilt disease, pine pitch canker, the wood decay fungus Ganoderma, Torreya taxifolia, and the Araucarias of New Caledonia at the 27th Southern Appalachian Forest Entomology and Pathology Seminar at the North Carolina Forest Service Mountain Training Facility. Researchers from Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Virginia […]
30 micron slice of redbay stem
Tyloses are bladder-like or balloon-like projections that block the xylem. In this photo you can see a tan ball inside one of the xylem cells (large openings). It’s almost right in the center. These are what essentially kill the plants in the cases of laurel wilt and Dutch elm disease. Micrograph and words by PhD […]
Over 2 days the Torreya Tree of Life event brought together leading conservation biologists to help save America’s rarest tree.
At Torreya – Tree of Life, 100 biologists met at the UF/ IFAS North Florida Research and Education Center in Quincy and at the breathtaking Torreya State Park to brainstorm a plan to preserve the biodiversity of the Florida panhandle. LAUNCH PHOTO SLIDESHOW
In the Spotlight interview
Jason Smith shines a light on the fate of Torreya taxifolia on the Tallahassee news. CLICK HERE:
Claudia’s First Report of Diplodia in Slash Pine in Plant Disease
Claudia has moved on from the Smith lab now that she has completed her Master’s. Her First Report has been published in APS’ Plant Disease on Diplodia in South Florida pine. First report of Diplodia sapinea and Diplodia scrobiculata causing an outbreak of tip blight on slash pine in Florida Ms. Claudia Alejandra Paez, MS and Dr. JASON ANDREW SMITH
Every species plays its part in the tree of life
It was a perfect day for a hike through the ravines of the Apalachicola River basin north of the Gulf in the Florida panhandle. Dozens of biologists got to spend over an hour on the forest floor listening to E.O. Wilson talk about biodiversity and reminisce on the conditions of life in his old stomping […]