The CucCAP project is developing genomic resources to increase disease resistance in cucurbit crops for the cucurbit community. The CucCAP website provides news about CucCAP grant activity, cucurbit diseases, and cucurbit crop production to a broad audience including crop producers, plant pathologists, plant breeders, plant genome scientists, and vegetable extension specialists.
CucCAP Featured Article
Multiple aphid and whitefly transmitted viruses are an increasing threat to melon production in the southwestern United States. Often plants are infected by a mixture of different viruses, posing challenges for disease management and efforts to develop resistant varieties. To help address this problem the Wintermantel lab developed a multiplex single-step RT-PCR method to simultaneously test and differentiate among the among the different viruses. Sampling of two melon production regions found that different combinations of viruses were dominant in fall vs. spring, providing important information for disease management in areas impacted by cucurbit yellowing viruses. Continue Reading
CucCAP Team News
Prerna Sabharwal is a graduate student working on her Ph.D. in the Department of Horticultural Sciences at the University of Florida. Her major Professor is CucCAP Squash breeder, Dr. Geoffrey Meru. The focus of Prerna’s research includes plant breeding, plant pathology, and genomics. Continue ReadingCucCAP research scientists from the four CucCAP Crop Teams, the Bioinformatics team, and the Integrated Crop and Disease Management team published 98 refereed publications, book chapters, and conference proceedings between September 2020 and April 2023. Continue Reading
Cucurbit Disease Management and Crop Production News
Gummy Stem Blight is resistant to multiple fungicides
In this article from Growing Produce magazine, CucCAP Plant Pathologist, Anthony Keinath discusses fungicide resistance on several vegetable crops including watermelon. The fungus that causes gummy stem blight is resistant to multiple fungicides used on watermelon. Continue Reading
Cucurbit Virus factsheets published on EVCWG website
CucCAP Integrated Crop and Disease management team member Dr. Anthony Keinath along with CucCAP vegetable breeder Dr. Kai Ling of the USDA in Charleston wrote a fact sheet on Cucurbit leaf crumple virus (CuLCrV). The factsheet is published on the EVCWG website Continue Reading
Cucurbit disease and pest reports
Cucurbit crop diseases and pests are reported in newsletters and forecasting sites by crop producers, Extension Agents, and Plant Pathologists from many regions in the United States. Continue Reading
