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8 CapitalPress.com August 7, 2015 Washington West Nile virus cases come early in Washington Disease strikes 6 horses before July ended By DON JENKINS Capital Press Six horses in Washington have been infected by West Nile virus in the past 10 days, already surpassing the num- ber of equine cases in all of 2014, according to the Wash- ington State Department of Agriculture. The virus is appearing in horses earlier than last year, when the first of five cases was confirmed Aug. 19, WSDA spokesman Mike Louisell said Friday. The first case in 2013 was confirmed in late September. Horses contract the disease from mosquitoes that have fed on infected birds. “Look at the hot weather we’ve been hav- ing. That’s no doubt spurred mosquitoes,” Louisell said. The virus is most common in south-central Washington, though it has infected horses and humans in other regions of the state. So far this year, the state Department of Health reports five human cases, including four in Benton County, where two horses have been infected. The fifth person sickened by the virus lives in King County in Western Washing- ton, but was likely infected in Adams County in Eastern Washington, according to the health department. WSDA previously report- ed that a gelding in Kenne- wick in Benton County was confirmed July 21 to have the virus. The horse survived, and it continues to improve, ac- cording to WSDA. Since then, five more cases have been confirmed. The six cases are the most in Wash- ington since 2009, when the virus infected 78 horses, by far the worst outbreak ever in the state. Equine cases have been relatively rare in the past sev- eral years, with two cases con- firmed in 2013, one in 2012 and none in 2011 and 2012. The cases so far this year include: • A 2-year-old Andalusian stud colt in Harrah in Yakima County. The horse’s condition is improving. • A 4-year-old Andalusian stud in Kennewick was euth- anized. • A 3-year-old Quarter horse gelding in Mesa in Franklin County died. • A 9-year-old Appaloo- sa mare in Othello in Adams County. The horse appears to be recovering. Anti-aphid wheat research shows opportunities By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press An effort to develop wheat that wards off aphids didn’t succeed but researchers in En- gland say the work could open the door to other hybrids of wheat that repel pests without the use of pesticides. When aphids are attacked or stressed, they produce an alarm pheromone, E-be- ta-farnesene, which is known by the initials EBF. When EBF is released it causes aphids to disperse, said Huw Jones, a professor at the cere- al transformation laboratory at Rothamsted Research in Harpendon, Hertfordshire in England. Jones’ team tried to genet- ically engineer wheat plants to make the compound, repel aphids and attract aphids’ nat- ural enemies. “If it had worked as planned, it would give farmers a choice whether to continue using conventional insecti- cides or to sow a crop variety that would repel aphids but keep them alive to maintain the populations of natural en- emies,” Jones said in an email to the Capital Press. Some parts of the project Eric Mortenson/Capital Press file Wheat grows in this file photo taken in 2014. Scientists in England developed a genetically modified wheat aimed at controlling aphids without the use of pesticides. worked well, Jones said, not- ing that it’s the first time wheat plants have been genetically engineered to emit the alarm pheromone. Lab experiments demonstrated that the plants successfully repelled aphids and attracted parasitic wasps that lay their eggs in the insect pests and kill them. However, in 2012 and 2013 field trials, Jones’ team didn’t observe any statistically sig- nificant behaviors in aphids or parasitic wasps. Jones said the aphid alarm response is normally triggered by a sudden burst of EBF, but the genetically modified plants made the pheromone contin- ually, which may have had a saturating effect. “Like you can smell a new- ly applied perfume but cannot notice it after a while,” Jones said. The project has ended, but Jones is seeking funding to in- vestigate the amount and tim- ing of EBF emissions. “We are aware of wheat genes that are switched on when aphids colonize and start to feed,” he said. “We are in- terested in isolating these gene switches and using them to drive the expression of the en- zymes needed to make EBF.” The research would be applicable to any area where aphids are a pest, Jones said. Arron Carter, winter wheat breeder at Washington State University, said it’s just a matter of getting funding and having someone interested in doing the research. He said aphids are not a high impact concern, but a research project would be of general help. Wireworm, an- other wheat pest, could be con- trolled by a similar technique, he said. Spring wheat is typically hit by aphids more than win- ter wheat. Early infections of aphids usually transmit barley yellow dwarf virus to winter wheat, Carter said. But the biggest stumbling block is customers’ opposition to genetically modified wheat, Carter said. “Until our markets accept GMO, we won’t see any of it here in the PNW,” he said. Jones believes non-lethal, behavioral approaches to pest control have “great potential.” State funding moves Connell rail project forward By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press Railroad congestion near Connell, Wash., that slows the shipment of agricultural crops and supplies is closer to a solution, thanks to $10 mil- lion from the state legislature, project supporters say. Washington legislators re- cently approved the funding in the 2015-2017 Transportation Revenue package. The funding will be di- vided into $5 million in each of the 2015-2017 and 2017- 2019 bienniums. The project will help the regional delivery of goods from farm to market, said Jed Crowther, Connell city administrator. The rail traffic “pinchpoint” occurs where the Columbia Basin Railroad line intersects with the BNSF Railway main- line between Spokane and Pas- co, Wash. The interchange will be moved roughly 1.5 miles south of its current location. Rail traffic has increased from 5,000 to roughly 12,000 cars per year, Crowther said. Future freight traffic could increase dramatically, said Pat Boss, consultant for the Co- lumbia Basin Railroad. About $2 billion in agri- cultural products are shipped annually through the region by rail. Boss said affected cargo is roughly 50 percent agricultural freight, including grain, frozen vegetables and canola. A planning study for pre- liminary design is underway. Crowther said it’s still early to determine final costs. Boss said there may be additional federal funding, but said the $10 million adds “a huge bit of credibility.” Crowther expects the proj- ect to be finished in three to four years. He expects “a sig- nificant push” to coordinate with BNSF’s efforts to dou- ble-track its mainline between Spokane and Pasco. Projects to address railroad congestion in Warden and Mo- ses Lake received $2 million and $21 million, respectively, Boss said. Those projects may result in more traffic through Connell, Boss said. • A 3-year-old Azteca male in Mabton in Yakima County. The horse appears to be re- covering. Idaho confirmed July 23 that a horse in Washington County was infected this year, the state’s only case this year. The California West Nile Virus website, jointly run by several government agencies, does not report equine cases. California’s surveillance sys- tem includes chickens set out to detect mosquito-borne illness- es. So far, 45 chickens have been sickened in nine counties, including the Northern Califor- nia counties of Shasta, Butte, Glenn, Sutter, Yuba and Placer. Oregon has not confirmed any equine cases this year, state Department of Agricul- ture spokesman Bruce Pokar- ney said Friday. The West Nile virus ap- peared in the United States in 1999. The disease sickens people, horses, birds and other animals, but it does not spread from horses to people or oth- er animals. Most horses that contract the virus show no ill symptoms. About one-third of the horses with symptoms die. WSDA recommends hors- es be vaccinated against the virus and that owners take steps to protect their horses from mosquitoes. ID’ing grapevine fungus may help fight disease By DAN WHEAT Capital Press PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State University researchers believe they have taken a step forward in com- bating grapevine trunk dis- ease in Washington vineyards. Scientists said they have documented seven fungal species that cause cankers in grapevines, more than previ- ously known, and that know- ing them and their varying biology and dispersal will allow better, customized management. The work was done by Leslie Holland who com- pleted her master’s degree in plant pathology in June. She worked under the guidance of Dean Glawe, a WSU plant pathology professor who re- tired in June, and Gary Grove, director of the WSU Irrigated Agriculture Research and Ex- tension Center in Prosser. Building upon research by Glawe, Holland conduct- ed a statewide survey to gauge how common grape- vine trunk diseases are. Fun- gi infect trunks or cordons through pruning wounds, resulting in cankers that en- large over time and ultimate- ly kill the plant. Glawe linked grapevine trunk disease to the fungus Eutypa armeniacae in the 1970s when looking at Con- cord grapes. Wine grapes were not widely grown in Washington then. Holland ex- panded the research to wine grapes. Holland analyzed diseased wood and identified can- ker-causing fungi based on morphological features and gene sequencing. Not only did she discover more fungal species could cause cankers in Washington than was pre- viously known, but she also saw a correlation between vineyard age and symptom incidence. She found the highest in- cidence of trunk disease in a vineyard with 33 percent of its vines showing symp- toms. This was also the old- est vineyard sampled, with plants from 40 to 42 years old. The trend continued as she crunched the numbers. “Washington is at an ad- vantage because the wine industry is young, with most vineyards planted from 10 to 30 years ago, and we have had scientists involved since the beginning,” Glawe said. “The predictive value of Les- lie’s research is substantial, as we are just beginning to see trunk disease become a bigger problem.” Holland plans to contin- ue studying canker fungi on other perennial crops when she begins a Ph.D. program at the University of California- Davis in September. Through sequence analy- ses, she found that fungal isolates in Washington are similar to fungal isolates in other grape-growing regions of the world, including California, Portugal and Australia. WSU photo Fungal growth on discolored, cankered wood samples. ROP-30-3-1/4X 32-2/#4N
