Welcome
Research Interests
We are a research lab at the University of Massachusetts Amherst Plant, Soil, and Insect Sciences Department specializing in:
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Population genetics of New England populations of Sclerotinia homoeocarpa, causal agent of dollar spot on turfgrass, to better understand population dynamics of fungicide insensitivity
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Management of fungicide resistance in dollar spot on turfgrass
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Classical and molecular breeding of disease resistance in Lolium and Agrostis spp.
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Mapping of disease resistance quantitative traits in Lolium and Agrostis and comparative genomics analysis in Poaceae species
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DNA fingerprinting of Kentucky bluegrass and bermudagrass
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Nanotechnology for plant pathogenic fungi
Extension and Outreach Focus
In addition to research, our group is involved in extension work through:
- Educational talks on management of fungicide resistance and cultural practices for improved turf quality
- Fungicide and Product Field Trials for the turfgrass industry
- Diagnostic Site Visits
- Fungicide Resistance Assays to measure levels of fungicide resistance and reduce financial and environmental impact of fungicide use on dollar spot.
- DNA Fingerprinting of turfgrass using molecular markers
- Publication of extension articles
News
Snow mold applications were made in five locations from Nov 14-28th. This year we will evaluate the affect of turf pigments on snow mold recovery and spring green-up. The picture above shows some of the experimental plots after pigmented treatments were applied at the Ponemah Green Family Golf Center in Amherst, NH.
Our Research Associate, Jay Popko has been sending disease updates regularly through the UMass TurfTalk email list to members of the turf community in New England. These brief reports will keep the reader up to date on management, forecasting, severity, and general information on turf diseases throughout the season. To get on the email list, email us at: turf@psis.umass.edu
Brown Patch on colonial bentgrass
The most recent update is available here…
Date: July 8, 2011
Category: Diseases
Subject: Dollar Spot, Brown Patch and Dollar Spot Resistance Assays
The 2010-2011 Snow mold fungicide trial report is now available.
This year we had excellent disease pressure and the trial was conducted in three states with four locations: Queensbury, NY; Manchester, VT; Pittsfield, MA and North Adams, MA.
