Simon Francis Shamoun

Natural Resources Canada | NRCan · Canadian Forest Service

Phytophthora ramorum Werres, de Cock & Man in’t Veld, Sudden Oak Death / Encre des chênes rouges (Peronosporaceae) Simon F. Shamoun* and Marianne Elliott *Corresponding author: simon.shamoun@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca Phytophthora ramorum is the causal agent of Sudden Oak Death, a disease that has killed millions of oak and tanoak trees in California and...

Introduction Phytophthora ramorum is a quarantine pathogen that causes leaf blight and shoot dieback of the crown, bark cankers and death on a number of both ornamental and forest trees, especially in North America and northern Europe, where it has produced severe outbreaks. Symptoms caused by P. ramorum can be confused with those by other Phytopht...

Since its emergence in the 1990s, the invasive pathogen Phytophthora ramorum has spread in Europe and the west coast of North America, causing sudden oak death in the United States and sudden larch death in the United Kingdom, resulting in the mortality or destruction of millions of trees. Due to its invasive nature, its damage potential, its wide...

Western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) is highly susceptible to Annosus root and butt rot disease, caused by Heterobasidion occidentale across its native range in western North America. Understanding molecular mechanisms of tree defense and dissecting genetic components underlying disease resistance will facilitate forest breeding and disease control...

The invasive Oomycete pathogen Phytophthora ramorum has killed millions of susceptible oak and tanoak trees in California and southern Oregon forests and is responsible for losses in revenue to the nursery industry through mitigation activities. In addition, infestation of forests in the United Kingdom by this organism has resulted in the destructi...

Heterobasidion annosum sensu lato is a species complex of pathogenic white-rot wood decay fungi which cause root and butt rot in conifer and hardwood species across the Northern hemisphere. Annual losses to forest managers are valued in the billions of dollars, due to tree mortality, reduction in timber yield, and wood decay. In North America, H. i...

Heterobasidion annosum sensu lato is a species complex of pathogenic white-rot wood decay fungi which cause root and butt rot in conifer and hardwood species across the Northern hemisphere. Annual losses to forest managers are valued in the billions of dollars due to tree mortality, reduction in timber yield, and wood decay. In North America, H. ir...

Susceptibility of Canadian Flora to EU2 Lineage of Phytophthora ramorum and Pathogen Sporulation Potential Simon Francis Shamoun, Grace Sumampong and Katherine Bernier, Canadian Forest Service, Pacific Forestry Centre, Victoria, BC, Canada; Simon.Shamoun@Canada.Ca; Marianne Elliott, Washington State University, Puyallup Research and Extension Resea...

Early detection provides the best way to prevent introduction and establishment of alien plant pathogens. Amplification of DNA by polymerase chain reaction has revolutionized the detection and monitoring of plant pathogens. Most of those assays rely on the amplification of a fraction of the genome of the targeted species. With the availability of w...

Survey and relative abundance of Heterobasidion species distribution in coastal British Columbia’s forests Simon Francis Shamoun*, Grace Sumampong Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Pacific Forestry Centre, 506 West Burnside Road, Victoria, BC V8Z 1M5 Canada * corresponding author: simon.shamoun@canada.ca The basidiomycete fungus...

International trade and travel are the driving forces behind the spread of invasive plant pathogens around the world, and humanmediated movement of plants and plant products is now generally accepted as the primary mode of their introduction, resulting in huge disturbance to ecosystems and severe socio-economic impact (Liebhold et al. 2012; Santini...

Characterization of genes involved in differentiation of pathogen species and isolates with variations of virulence traits provides valuable information to control tree diseases for meeting the challenges of sustainable forest health and phytosanitary trade issues. Lack of genetic knowledge and genomic resources hinders novel gene discovery, molecu...

Table S1. Herobasidion occidentale isolates invetigested in the present study. Table S2. Blast analysis of Heterobasidion occidentale transcriptome de novo assembled by RNA‐seq. Table S3. Prediction of orthologous clusters by the OrthoVenn program. Table S4. Heterobasidion occidental secreted proteins as annotated by BlastP analysis using H. irr...

Fig. S5. GO terms of H. occidentale genes with isolate‐exclusive expression patterns.

Fig. S2. Protein sequence alignment of H. occidentale CYP5849A1 (Hoc‐contig15110) with its H. annosum ortholog (Han‐03520).

Fig. S3. Protein sequence alignment of H. occidentale CYP5348Z1 (Hoc‐contig733973) with its putative orthologs from Galerina marginata (KDR74420) and Hericium erinaceus (ARE72240).

Fig. S4. Phylogenetic analysis of fungal CYP5032 family.

Fig. S6. Heat maps showing the expression pattern of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the H. occidentale two isolates.

Fig. S1. Transcriptomes de novo assembled by RNA‐seq analysis.

The conspecificity of Finnish and western Canadian isolates of the decay fungus Chondrostereum purpureum was investigated by several approaches, including the assessment of genetic variability, mating and progeny analysis, and the analysis of selected phenotypic traits. Eight second-generation single spore strains per fungal isolate pairing were in...

Conifers have complex defense responses to initial attacks by insects and pathogens that can have cascading effects on success of subsequent colonizers. However, drought can affect a plant’s ability to respond to biotic agents by potentially altering the resources needed for the energetically costly production of induced defense chemicals. We inves...

Experimental design and sample location on tree stem. The initial induction treatments were applied on lower third of trees as follows: No application of induction agent (Control), inoculation with Grosmannia clavigera (Fungus), application of methyl jasmonate (MJ), and methyl salicylate (MS). Fungal challenge treatment involved the inoculation of...

Effect of induction and watering treatments on the profile of monoterpene accumulations in bark of Pinus banksiana seedlings outside the Grosmannia clavigera challenge lesions. Non-metric multidimensional scaling with Bray-Curtis distance ordination was used to analyze relationships. Significant monoterpene compounds are represented by overlaid vec...

Correlations (r) and significance (P-value) of vector monoterpene accumulations from non-metric multidimensional scaling analyses used to visualize relationships with induction and watering treatments in the bark of Pinus banksiana seedlings in Fig 3 and S1 Fig. (DOCX)

Dr. Shamoun holds the causal agent of root and butt rot fungus Heterobasidion occidentale found on the roots of western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) wind - thrown trees close to SandCut Beach area on Vancouver Island.

A set of quantitative hierarchical real-time PCR assays was developed for the detection of Heterobasidion irregulare, H. occidentale, H. annosum sensu stricto and of the entire Heterobasidion annosum complex. These assays enable specific and accurate detection and quantification of the target species from DNA extracted on airborne collected spores....

The basidiomycete species complex Heterobasidion annosum (Fr.) Bref., sensu lato, are regarded as some of the most destructive pathogens of conifers worldwide. Recent work has classified the complex into five species based on their genetic diversity, inter-sterility between mating groups, geographical distribution, and host preference. In North Ame...

A total of 33 host species commonly found in eastern (8) and western (25) Canadian landscapes and forest sites were selected for this study. Detached leaves/needles were inoculated with Phytophthora ramorum EU2 lineage mycelia which was isolated from stream bait near an infected larch plantation in Scotland, UK. There was a large variation in susce...

Phytophthora ramorum Werres et al., the causative agent of sudden oak death in North America, is an invasive species that is responsible for killing oak trees in California and Oregon and causes Ramorum blight in over 100 species of plants. There are four clonal lineages that have been identified thus far:NA1, NA2, EU1 and EU2. The NA1 lineage has...

Heterobasidion annosum sensu lato is a species complex of pathogenic white-rot wood decay fungi which cause root and butt rot in conifer stands across the northern hemisphere. The disease is characterized by circles of dead trees that are difficult to diagnose early and remove from infected sites. There are two species in North America: H. irregula...

In Europe, cultivated rhododendron is one of the most important hosts for Phytophthora ramorum. To better understand leaf infection and leaf capacity for sporulation, infection studies were carried out. Detached leaves of Rhododendron ‘Catawbiense Grandiflorum ? and `Brigitte ? were inoculated with zoospore suspensions of P. ramorum isolates of mat...

Phytophthora ramorum is the causal agent of sudden oak death, a very serious disease that causes dieback and death of several important forest species in the USA. It was recently associated with a destructive disease of larch in the United Kingdom. The pathogen has a wide host range including ornamentals such as Rhododendron and Viburnum, and has b...

Phytophthora ramorum is a regulated pathogen in North America, which causes ramorum blight on nursery stock resulting in the implementation of costly quarantine and eradication measures. Earlier studies showed some biofungicides could inhibit growth and reduce the disease in vitro. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of commercia...

Heterobasidion annosum (Fr.) Bref. sensu lato causes one of the most destructive diseases of conifers. Heterobasidion is a species complex consisting of 5 species. The North American intersterility groups (ISG), H. irregulare (P) and H. occidentale (S), were recently named. The other 3 spp., H. annosum sensu stricto (s.s.)- (P), H. parviporum (S) a...

Phytophthora ramorum: Research Results and Challenges for the Pacific Northwest of North America Marianne Elliott1, Simon F. Shamoun2, and Gary Chastagner1 1Washington State University, Puyallup Research and Extension Center, Puyallup, WA, USA melliott2@wsu.edu; 2Natural Resources Canada, Pacific Forestry Centre, Victoria, BC, Canada Abstract Sudde...

Forests and landscape areas throughout the world are under serious threat from an increasing number of Phytophthora species. Diseases such as jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) dieback (P. cinnamomi) in western Australia, needle blight (P. pinifolia) of Pinus radiata planted in Chile, root rot (P. lateralis) of Chamaecyparis lawsoniana in western North...

Forests and landscape areas throughout the world are under serious threat from an increasing number of Phytophthora species. Diseases such as jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) dieback (P. cinnamomi) in western Australia, needle blight (P. pinifolia) of Pinus radiata planted in Chile, root rot (P. lateralis) of Chamaecyparis lawsoniana in western North...

Infection of the endophytic system of Arceuthobium americanum parasitizing Pinus contorta var. latifolia by the fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides was assessed on naturally infected and inoculated localized dwarf mistletoe plants. Two different techniques were utilized to attempt to inoculate C. gloeosporioides into the endophytic system: the fu...

The ascomycete Colletotrichum gloeosporioides was tested for biological control of Arceuthobium tsugense on western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) in British Columbia (BC), Canada. A field trial was conducted near Nanaimo, BC, using C. gloeosporioides isolate PFC 2415 in three treatments applied in late August 2002. The treatments consisted of C. glo...

The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of Chondrostereum purpureum (Pers.:Fr.) Pouzar was extracted and purified, and the size ranged from 51.8 to 66.4 kb. One isolate each from British Columbia, Alberta, Finland, the Netherlands, and New Zealand were found to have identical BamHI mtDNA restriction patterns, resulting in a mitochondrial genome of 63.8 kb. A...

P>There are three major clonal lineages of Phytophthora ramorum present in North America and Europe named NA1, NA2, and EU1. Twenty-three isolates representing all three lineages were evaluated for phenotype including (i) aggressiveness on detached Rhododendron leaves and (ii) growth rate at minimum, optimum, and maximum temperatures. Closely relat...

Variation in the ribosomal (rDNA) repeat was analyzed for 107 isolates of the pathogenic fungus Chondrostereum purpureum, collected from Europe, New Zealand, and North America. The rDNA repeat of a representative Canadian isolate of C. purpureum was cloned into the λ vector EMBL-3, and a detailed restriction map was constructed. Variation in the la...

As a pathogen and possibly biological control agent, the morphological development process of the conidia of Valdensinia heterodoxa is studied under a controlled environment. Conidial production in culture can be controlled by exposure to light. No conidia are produced at 20°C in the dark on weak oatmeal agar, but after placing in an growth chamber...

Biological diversity in forest ecosystems results from evolutionary processes driven by ecological imperatives linked to pathogens, symbionts, fire, climate, and competition or impacts from other agents of disturbance. To understand the behavior of microorganisms and microbial pathogens, it is necessary to have a comprehensive appreciation for the...

The role of a combination of four gelatin concentration levels (0.0%, 0.2%, 0.5%, and 0.8%) and eight potato dextrose broth (PDB) concentration levels (0.0%, 0.1%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, 2.0%, 2.5%, and 3.0%) on water evaporation, water absorption, conidial germination, and biocontrol efficacy of conidia of Phoma exigua isolate PFC2705 for salal was eva...

Five commercially available biological control products were tested in vitro with seven isolates of Phytophthora ramorum from North American (NA1, NA2), and European (EU1) populations. The in vitro tests included dual culture methods and detached leaf assays on wounded Rhododendron and Camellia leaves. Variability in response to biocontrol agents a...

Phytophthora ramorum, the cause of sudden oak death and ramorum blight, has three major clonal lineages and two mating types. Molecular tests currently available for detecting P. ramorum do not distinguish between clonal lineages and mating type is determined by cultural methods on a limited number of samples. In some molecular diagnostic tests, cr...

Phytophthora ramorum, the causal agent of sudden oak death and ramorum blight, is known to exist as three distinct clonal lineages which can only be distinguished by performing molecular marker-based analyses. However, in the recent literature there exists no consensus on naming of these lineages. Here we propose a system for naming clonal lineages...

An in vitro system using detached western hemlock branches infected with dwarf mistletoe was developed to screen the virulence of five isolates of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, a hyperparasite of dwarf mistletoe shoots and berries. Detached branches infected with dwarf mistletoe were placed in nutrient-saturated rock-wool blocks and mistletoe sho...

Arceuthobium americanum Nuttal ex Engelmann in Gray (lodgepole pine dwarf mistletoe) causes significant losses to the timber industry. The fungus Caliciopsis arceuthobii (Peck) Barr shows high specificity to Arceuthobium spp., and therefore infection of A. americanum was monitored for 4 years to determine the effect of this fungus on fruit producti...

Many mistletoe species are pests in agricultural and forest ecosystems throughout the world. Mistletoes are unusual "weeds" as they are generally endemic to areas where they achieve pest status and, therefore, classical biological control and broad-scale herbicidal control are usually impractical. In North American coniferous forests, dwarf mistlet...

A new double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) virus, designated Chondrostereum purpureum cryptic virus (CPCV), belonging to the family Partitiviridae, has been identified in the basidiomycete fungus Chondrostereum purpureum. The virus does not appear to be distributed widely and was detected in only one (PFC2064) of 20 C. purpureum isolates screened. Visualiza...

A survey was conducted on Vancouver Island and in coastal mainland British Columbia of naturally occurring fungal pathogens of salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis), an endemic plant species considered to be undesirable in conifer regeneration sites. Fungi were recovered from necrotic lesions on foliage and stems and identified to genus level. An in vitr...

A new member of the dsRNA Partiviridae has been identified in the basidiomycete fungus Chondrostereum purpureum (Pers.:Fr.) Pouz., PFC isolate 2064. Visualization by electron microscopy revealed isometric virus-like particles with a mean diameter of 30nm. Agarose gel electrophoresis from nucleic acid preparations identified two dsRNA bands that wer...

A collection of 67 isolates of Phytophthora ramorum from the United States (U.S.), European Union (EU), and Canada was screened using differences in phenotypic traits (pathogenicity, growth rate at several temperatures, and sensitivity/resistance to metalaxyl, dimethomorph, and streptomycin) and for presence of cytoplasmic elements (dsRNA and plasm...

Valdensinia heterodoxa (Sclerotiniacae) is a potential fungal bioherbicide for control of salal (Gaultheria shallon). The effect of culture media, substrates and relative humidity (RH) on growth, sporulation and conidial discharge of V. heterodoxa was determined for two isolates PFC2761 and PFC3027 in vitro. Culture media significantly affected the...

In order to evaluate the potential use of Phoma exigua isolate PFC 2705 (PFC2705) as a biological control agent for salal (Gaultheria shallon), effect of cultural and environmental parameters on growth, conidia production, and pathogenicity of P. exigua were characterized in studies conducted under laboratory and greenhouse conditions. Within a ran...

Salal (Gaultheria shallon) is an economically important plant on the west coast of British Columbia, Canada. Symptoms of infection with powdery mildew were observed on salal leaves, petioles, young twigs, racemes, bracts, and calyces. Pathogenicity tests showed that this pathogen can infect salal within a broad range of temperature (12–25 °C) and r...

Valdensinia heterodoxa is an ascomycete fungus currently being considered as a potential biocontrol agent against salal (Gaultheria shallon). To assess its effectiveness and risks as a biocontrol agent, we investigated its population structure in three geographically separate populations on Vancouver Island and in coastal mainland, British Columbia...

A field trial was conducted on Vancouver Island to evaluate the efficacy of the native fungus Neonectria neomacrospora as a biocontrol agent of hemlock dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium tsugense), a conifer parasite. Treatments consisted in formulated inoculum of N. neomacrospora applied to unwounded and wounded A. tsugense swellings. After 10 months,...

Inundative biological control of Arceuthobium americanum occurring on Pinus contorta var. latifolia with the fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides was investigated. Isolates of C. gloeosporioides were collected throughout British Columbia, Canada, and one isolate was selected for assessment based on its growth and sporulation in culture. The fungus...

Salal (Gaultheria shallon Pursh.) is an ericaceous, evergreen, and rhizomatous shrub that competes for nutrients and moisture with young conifers in low elevation, coastal British Columbia (BC). A survey was conducted on southern Vancouver Island, BC during the summer of 1999 to find fungal pathogens of salal that might serve as biocontrol organism...

A field trial to assess the ability of Chondrostereum purpureum to limit the resprouting of cut red alder (Alnus rubra) was established in British Columbia, Canada. Overall, 92% of stumps inoculated with C. purpureum died in the first year and 100% were dead by the second year. C. purpureum was thus as effective as the herbicide treatments Carbopas...

Gaultheria shallon Pursh. (salal), an ericaceous shrub native to the Pacific Northwest, often out-competes re- generating conifer species in managed forests. A naturally occurring fungus, Valdensinia heterodoxa Peyronel, is being considered as a potential biocontrol agent for salal. Knowledge of the genetic diversity and population structure of sal...

Inoculum production of Valdensinia heterodoxa Peyr. (isolate PFC 3027), a foliar pathogen of salal (Gaultheria shallon Pursh.), was evaluated on various solid substrates. Incubation on salal leaf pieces resulted in the greatest number of discharged conidia, which is deemed a suitable indicator for sporulation and inoculum dispersal of V. heterodoxa...

Valdensinia heterodoxaPeyr. has potential for application as abiological control agent of salal (Gaultheria shallon Pursh) in regeneratingforests in the Pacific Northwest region ofNorth America. Conidia production of twoisolates of Valdensinia heterodoxa wasexamined at four temperature levels during a12-day period. Conidia production was stronglyin...

Dwarf mistletoes (Arceuthobium spp.) are destructive forest pathogens that parasitise commercially important conifer species. Timber losses result from growth reduction, from wood degradation, from increased predisposition to attack by bark beetles, decay, and sapstain fungi, and ultimately from plantation failure. Research and experience in North...

Dwarf mistletoes (Arceuthobium spp.) are destructive forest pathogens that parasitise commercially important conifer species. Timber losses result from growth reduction, from wood degradation, from increased predisposition to attack by bark beetles, decay, and sapstain fungi, and ultimately from plantation failure. Research and experience in North...

The invention disclosed relates to a naturally occurring (21) Appl, N()_j 10/155,992 fungus, Valdensinia heteroa'oxa, and to its culture, formu lation and delivery systems, as Well as its use as a biocontrol (22) Filed: May 29, 2002 agent for salal (Gaultheria shallon Pursh.). Patent Application Publication

Two fungi that parasitize western hemlock dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium tsugense subsp. tsugense), Cylindrocarpon cylindroides and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, were evaluated for their virulence on germinating seeds and callus grown in vitro. Mistletoe seeds were germinating on Harvey's tissue culture medium in one-half of a petri plate, while t...

Four day/night temperature regimes (11/6, 14/9, 17/12, 20/15 °C), three photoperiods (0, 12, 24 h d−1), and four continuous temperature regimes (10, 13, 16, 19°) were evaluated for their effects on growth, sporulation, and conidia discharge of two isolates of Valdensinia heterodoxa, a foliar pathogen of salal (Gaultheria shallon). All temperature r...

The Rubus species R. parviflorus, R. spectabilis and R. strigosus interfere with conifer seedling establishment on forest regeneration sites in Canada and the United States. As a first step towards microbial metabolite-based control, callus and cell suspension cultures of the Rubus species were developed as a bioassay system to detect phytotoxic co...

A procedure for in vitro culture of the parasitic flowering plant western hemlock dwarf mistletoe, Arceuthobium tsugense (Rosend.) G.N. Jones subsp. tsugense, is described. A factorial experiment evaluated the effects of media (Harvey's medium (HM) and modified White's medium (WM)), temperatures (15 °C and 20 °C), presence or absence of light, and...

Prior to the release of any organism for use as a biological control agent, it is necessary to assess the possible effects of deploying a single isolate over a wide geographic area. There is a distinct possibility that a rare virulence gene or allele could be introduced into a local population of the pathogen following release. Factors such as the...

This book summarizes the biological control programmes in Canada since 1981. The book includes three chapters on the relationships of invasive species, pesticides and taxonomy to biological control, and contains sections on insects and mites (55 chapters, including crop pests, forest pests, public health pests and livestock pests), weeds (25 chapte...

A study was designed to isolate and identify the endophytic mycobiota in leaves and twigs of Rubus spectabilis and R. parviflorus, the long-term goal being biological control of these plants with endophytes. Endophytic fungi were isolated from healthy-looking leaves and twigs collected from each species on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada...

It has been well documented that some plant pathogenic fungi can be developed as inundative biological control agents (mycoherbicides) to suppress native competing for- est vegetation in conifer regeneration sites. Biological control agents need to be suffi- ciently virulent to mitigate the aggressiveness of competing vegetation, while allowing cro...

The invention disclosure relates to a biologically pure isolate of Fusarium avenaceum ATCC 200684 to a herbicidal composition containing the isolate as active ingredient, and to a method of combating Weeds, particularly the Rubus species, comprising applying an effective amount of the composition, thereto.

The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of Chondrostereum purpureum (Pers.:Fr.) Pouzar was extracted and purified, and the size ranged from 51.8 to 66.4 kb. One isolate each from British Columbia, Alberta, Finland, the Netherlands, and New Zealand were found to have identical BamHI mtDNA restriction patterns, resulting in a mitochondrial genome of 63.8 kb. A...