Forest pathology

Forest pathology is the research of both biotic and abiotic maladies affecting the health of a forest ecosystem, primarily fungal pathogens and their insect vectors. It is a subfield of forestry and plant pathology. Forest pathology is part of the broader approach of forest protection. Insects, diseases and severe weather events damaged about 40 million ha of forests in 2015, mainly in the temperate and boreal domains. There are a number of abiotic factors which affect the health of a forest, such as moisture issues like drought, winter-drying, waterlogging resulting from over-abundance or lack of precipitation such as hail, snow, rain. Wind is also an important abiotic factor as windthrow (the uprooting or breaking of trees due to high winds) causes an obvious and direct loss of stability to a forest or its trees. Often, abiotic factors and biotic factors will affect a forest at the same time. For example, if wind speed is 80 km per hour then many trees which have root rot (caused by a pathogen) are likely to be thrown. Higher wind speeds are necessary to damage healthier trees. Fire, whether caused by humans or lightning, and related abiotic factors also affect the health of forest. The effects of man often alter a forest's predisposition to damage from both abiotic and biotic effects. For example, soil properties may be altered by heavy machinery. Other abiotic factors Nutrient imbalances: deficiencies, chemicals (toxic salts, herbicides, air pollutants) Stemflow which can concentrate dry deposits which via soil acidification can kill surrounding plants. Temperature Fungi: Ascomycota, Basidiomycota and Fungi imperfecti There is a . Oomycota: Phytophthora Bacteria Phytoplasmas Viruses Insects There is a . Ips (genus) bark beetles Bark beetle Ambrosia beetle Cerambycidae Black arches Some of these factors act in concert (all do to a degree). For example, Amylostereum areolatum is spread by the sirex woodwasp. The fungus gains access to new trees to live off, and the woodwasp larvae gain food.

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Post-translational glycosylation diminishes α-synuclein pathology formation

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O-linked N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) is an endogenous form of glycosylation that alters the structure of alpha-synuclein amyloid fibrils and attenuates their pathogenetic properties. The modified fibrils have a significantly reduced ability to seed the ...

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Reverse engineering Lewy bodies: how far have we come and how far can we go?

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Lewy bodies (LBs) are α-synuclein (α-syn)-rich intracellular inclusions that are an important pathological hallmark of Parkinson disease and several other neurodegenerative diseases. Increasing evidence suggests that the aggregation of α-syn has a central ...

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Normal aging and a wide range of neurologic, inflammatory or psychiatric diseases lead to changes in the brain tissue over time. In the interest of diagnosis, prognosis and treatment monitoring, it is highly desirable to have robust tools that reliably mea ...

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Forest dieback

Forest dieback (also "Waldsterben", a German loan word) is a condition in trees or woody plants in which peripheral parts are killed, either by pathogens, parasites or conditions like acid rain, drought, and more. These episodes can have disastrous consequences such as reduced resiliency of the ecosystem, disappearing important symbiotic relationships and thresholds. Some tipping points for major climate change forecast in the next century are directly related to forest diebacks.

Phytophthora ramorum

Phytophthora ramorum is the oomycete (a type of protist) plant pathogen known to cause the disease sudden oak death (SOD). The disease kills oak and other species of trees and has had devastating effects on the oak populations in California and Oregon, as well as being present in Europe. Symptoms include bleeding cankers on the tree's trunk and dieback of the foliage, in many cases leading to the death of the tree. P.

Dutch elm disease

Dutch elm disease (DED) is caused by a member of the sac fungi (Ascomycota) affecting elm trees, and is spread by elm bark beetles. Believed to be originally native to Asia, the disease was accidentally introduced into America, Europe, and New Zealand. In these regions it has devastated native populations of elms that did not have resistance to the disease. The name "Dutch elm disease" refers to its identification in 1921 and later in the Netherlands by Dutch phytopathologists Bea Schwarz and Christine Buisman, who both worked with professor Johanna Westerdijk.

Biological Contaminants: Pathogens

Covers the definition of biological contaminants and the transmission of pathogens, including emerging infectious diseases and antibiotic resistance.