Ebba Peterson

• PhD
• Research Associate at Oregon State University

Phytophthora ramorum Werres, de Cock & Man in’t Veld, causal agent of sudden oak death (SOD) and ramorum leaf blight, is comprised of four clonal lineages in its invasive ranges of North America and Europe (Grünwald et al. 2012, Van Poucke et al. 2012). Of these, three – the NA1, NA2, and EU1 lineages – are found in U.S. nurseries, but only two, th...

Soilborne inoculum arising from buried, infested leaf debris may contribute to the persistence of Phytophthora ramorum at recurrently positive nurseries. To initiate new epidemics, inoculum must not only survive, but produce sporangia during times conducive to infection at the soil surface. To assess this risk, we performed two year-long experiment...

Widespread symptoms of root rot and mortality on Juniperus communis and Microbiota decussata were observed in two horticultural nurseries in Oregon, leading to the isolation of a Phytophthora sp. from diseased roots. Based on morphology and sequencing the internal transcribed spacer ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region, isolates were identified as the invasive pa...

An overview of diseases caused by Phytophthora ramorum intended for a general audience.

Phytophthora ramorum, cause of sudden oak death and ramorum leaf blight, can persist undetected in infested nurseries. Many conventional fungicides are effective in reducing or delaying symptom expression, but some may confound visual detection of infected plants. We tested film-forming polymers (FFPs) and surfactants for their ability to reduce in...

An effort to eradicate Phytophthora ramorum , causal agent of sudden oak death, has been underway since its discovery in Oregon forests. Using an information-theoretical approach we sought to model yearly variation in the size of newly infested areas and dispersal distance. Maximum dispersal distances were best modeled by spring and winter precipit...

Management of invasive species requires confidence in the detection methods used to assess expanding distributions, as well as an understanding of the dominant modes of spread. Lacking this basic biological information, during early stages of invasion management choices are often driven by available resources and the biology of closely related spec...