The number of time periods in which each county fell within a high-risk cluster of La Crosse virus neuroinvasive disease from 2003–2021 in the eastern United States (data obtained from ArboNET). CC: Corey Day

La Crosse Virus Disease in the Appalachian Region

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    Corey Day, an entomology and plant pathology graduate student, recently published a paper entitled “ Geographically persistent clusters of La Crosse virus disease in the Appalachian region of the United States from 2003 to 2021” in collaboration with Rebecca Trout Fryxell, associate professor in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology and Agricola Odoi, professor of epidemiology and assistant dean for research and graduate studies in the Department of Biomedical and Diagnostic Sciences. The full article can be found here.

Portrait Dr. Becky Trout Fryxell

Diversifying the Halls of a Middle School Science Wing

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  Professor Rebecca Trout Fryxell published an article entitled “Diversifying the Halls of a Middle School Science Wing”. The article discusses how images of scientists can shift student perceptions of who a scientist is and what a scientist does. To read the full article, visit https://academic.oup.com/ae/diversifying-the-halls-of-a-middle-school-science-wing.                

triseriatus

Community Efforts to Monitor and Manage Aedes Mosquitoes in East Tennessee

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    East Tennessee is burdened by mosquito-borne La Crosse virus disease, but minimal resources for mosquito surveillance, management, or related community education exist in the region. To address these needs, we developed a program to train middle and high school educators in basic medical entomology. The educators then used their skills in the classroom to teach students about La Crosse virus disease and conduct mosquito collection experiments. As a case study of a potential application of classroom-collected data, we also partnered with a local non-profit organization to assess the potential for a volunteer litter cleanup to reduce mosquito populations in a Tennessee neighborhood. To learn more about community efforts to monitor and manage Aedes mosquitoes in east Tennessee, visit

Identification and Management Recommendations of Common Fungal Diseases of Eastern Black Walnut

Managing Common Fungal Diseases of Eastern Black Walnut

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  Aaron Onufrak, doctoral candidate and research lab manager, recently published a paper entitled “Identification and Management Recommendations of Common Fungal Diseases of Eastern Black Walnut” (Publication W1101) alongside William Klingman, professor in the Department of Plant Sciences, and his mentor, Denita Hadziabdic Guerry, associate professor in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology. The publication introduces the Eastern black walnut and identifies key characteristics of the tree and its common fungal diseases.                        

Study Reveals High Genetic Diversity, Mutation, and Migration Rates of Bradford Pear

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  Pyrus calleryana Decne. (Callery pear) is a deciduous tree native to China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. It is a popular ornamental tree in the United States (US) with early spring blooms and vibrant fall color. There are at least 26 cultivars of P. calleryana available in the US of which “Bradford” is the most well-known. Open-pollinated P. calleryana escapees are becoming one of the most common invasive tree species in the eastern United States. Developing better management practices for invasive P. calleryana requires detailed knowledge about reproductive biology and genetic diversity of the species, however, little is currently known about genetic variability within those open-pollinated populations. We investigated genetic diversity and population structure of non-cultivated, escaped P. calleryana populations

Portrait of Katy Smith

Recent Article: Costs of Horn Fly (Diptera: Muscidae) Control for Cow-calf Producers in Tennessee and Texas, 2016

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  Ph.D. student Katy Smith and Associate Professor Dr. Trout Fryxell collaborated with the Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics and recently published an article titled “Costs of Horn Fly (Diptera: Muscidae) Control for Cow-calf Producers in Tennessee and Texas, 2016” in the Journal of Economic Entomology. Horn flies (Haematobia irritans (L.)) are a common pests of livestock as they feed on the blood of their host 20 to 40 times per day. This article details the economic impact of managing this pest in both Southern states. To read the full article and find out more please visit here.      

Dr. Hadziabdic Guerry and Dr. Trigiano Lab Published in The American Phytopathological Society

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  Sarah Boggess, Dr. Denita Hadziabdic, Dr. Robert Trigiano, and colleagues published an article this past November in The American Phytopathological Society (APS) journal. The article titled “Conventional Gel Electrophoresis and TaqMan Probes Enable Rapid Confirmation of Thousand Cankers Disease From Diagnostic Samples“, discusses thousand cankers disease (TCD) and improved and rapid detection protocols.  For the full article, click here.

Portrait of Matthew Huff

Matt Huff’s Publication – High Quality Reference Genome for Fraxinus pennsylvanica

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  Recently, research associate, Matthew Huff, published an article titled “A high quality reference genome for Fraxinus pennsylvanica for ash species restoration and research”. The Fraxinus pennsylvanica, green ash tree, is distributed across North America, and due to a small percentage of these native trees remaining healthy, they are known as the “lingering ash”. To read the full article and find out more on the research being conducted on Fraxinus pennsylvanica, visit here.