FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK
Spring surrounds us with citrus blossom scents, a new director, new projects, and continuing accomplishments.
On June 17, 2024, IRREC faculty, staff, and stakeholders will welcome Dr. Mark Kistler as IRREC’s 7th Director. A Florida native, Dr. Kistler earned degrees from UF/IFAS, served as a county extension agent and Director for the Okeechobee Extension, and as a Dean for the prominent Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Georgia.
The 2024 Florida Citrus Show
Most noteworthy this spring is The Florida Citrus Show’s resounding success. The 2024 show is the second event held at IRREC, shared with our adjacent neighbors, the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Again, the show attracted record-setting attendance and increased engagement with the state’s vegetable and citrus producers committed to the heritage industry. IRREC’s Dr. Mark Ritenour and Dr. Sandra Guzmân led the educational seminars that address food producers’ most urgent issues and new research to serve their needs. Show highlights include:
• High interest in a citrus breeder’s discussion panel.
• Equal interest in a citrus growers’ discussion panel.
• A new invasive thrips species, Thrips parvispinus.
IRREC’s first Gator Day at the State Capitol
On February 14, Assistant Professor Dr. Lorenzo Rossi and Audrey Beany represented IRREC at the Florida State Capitol for our first-ever booth for the annual event. Gator Day showcases the university’s support for agriculture and exhibits our work to support growers. UF/IFAS’s participation was in a farmer’s market-style fruit and vegetable-tasting display. Because IRREC is in the heart of the world’s premier grapefruit production region, fresh, delectable pink grapefruit wedges were offered to attendees. Gator Day participants, including UF Gator mascots Albert and Alberta Gator, swarmed around Dr. Rossi and Audrey as the two distributed more than 100 fresh fruit wedges. The response was overwhelming—Dr. Rossi will have to plan for more fresh fruit samples next year.
2024 Postharvest Tour
Dr. Mark Ritenour co-leads a sold-out Postharvest Tour each year. Because Florida is a leading agricultural region, refined postharvest practices and international trade development have set standards for national food producers. Participants from as far away as Puerto Rico and Wisconsin joined this year’s weeklong event, launched from Plant City, Florida. There, attendees toured Fancy Fruit’s bountiful strawberry production fields and Wish Farm’s ultra-clean, exceedingly well-run packing house operations. The tour moved onto Port Manatee, where tons and tons of fresh fruit from Costa Rica arrive weekly. The tour continued for four additional days, presenting Florida’s fresh produce production after fruit is harvested and shipped.
Spring 2024 is a fully productive season for IRREC. I cannot cover all that is new and flourishing within this message. I will close with my farewell to IRREC, where I have enjoyed my work as an Assistant, Associate, and full Professor, and IRREC’s sixth Director, after eight years of fulfilling work to serve Florida’s agricultural and natural resources industries with research, Extension, and education. For the privilege to serve the people who work to produce high-quality food products shipped worldwide, I have two words before my departure: Thank you!
And thank you for perusing our new edition of the IRREC News!
Sincerely,
Dr. Ronald D. Cave
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. From the Director's Desk
2. Meet Dr. Mark Kistler, IRREC's 7th Director
3. We honor our leader, Dr. Ronald D. Cave, on his retirement
4. The 2024 Florida Citrus Show
5. News from Dr. Mark Ritenour: The 2024 Postharvest Tour
6. IRREC Service for the St. Lucie County Regional STEM Science Fair
7. News from Dr. Pasco Avery's Entomopathogenic Fungi Research Laboratory
8. News from Dr. Zhenli He's Soil, Water and Ecosystems Laboratory
9. News from Dr. Flavia Zambon's Horticultural Production of Citrus and Other Tree Crops Laboratory
10. News from Dr. Cortney Ohs' Aquaculture Laboratory
11.News from Dr. Lorenzo Rossi's Plant Root Biology Laboratory
12. News from Dr. Dr. Sandra Guzman's Smart Irrigation and Hydrology Laboratory
13. Dr. Carey Minteer's Biological Control Weeds Laboratory
14. News from Dr. Nicole Quinn's Biological Control of Invasive Insects Laboratory
15. Upcoming Events
Dr. Mark Kistler will serve as IRREC's 7th Director. A native of Winter Haven, Florida, Dr. Kistler is a Gator! His time in the swamp includes a BSc and MSc with UF/IFAS, both in animal science. As a UF faculty member, Dr. Kistler worked alongside IRREC faculty members during his tenure as Director for the Okeechobee Extension Service.
We warmly welcome Dr. Kistler's homecoming to UF and new appointment as IRREC's 7th Director!
Congratulations Dr. Kistler!
A FOND FAREWELL TO DR. RONALD D. CAVE, THE SIXTH IRREC DIRECTOR
We honor our leader, Dr. Ronald D. Cave, for eight years of IRREC leadership, and 22 years service to agricultural and natural resources.
For his leadership to inspire a team of scientists who publish in the most prestigious journals and for his ability to select six high-performing scientists and then provide them with cutting-edge equipment are some of the reasons why Ronald D. Cave’s team’s members regale him as he retires from a 22-year career with UF.
Cave is the Director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Science’s Indian River Research and Education Center (IRREC). The center is integral to UF’s statewide commitment to serve Florida’s agriculture and natural resources industries. One of 12 research facilities, each is positioned in Florida’s food production corridors.
Cave joined the IRREC faculty in 2002 as an assistant professor of entomology. He was one of two of the original scientists who oversaw the construction and completion of the center’s Norman C. Hayslip Biological Control Research and Containment Laboratory. Two approved species have been released from the Hayslip lab that now control the area’s most invasive plants.
Over the past 20 years, Cave rose to increasing levels of responsibility. Cave earned promotions to associate professor and then to full professor. In 2016, Cave was promoted a third time to lead IRREC and its 75 employees as its sixth director.
The IRREC lies in the heart of the world’s premier grapefruit production region. Researchers at the site are involved with entomology, biological control of invasive species, citrus production, postharvest physiology, plant pathology, plant root biology, soil and water science, and aquaculture. There, 10 faculty research scientists and their teams, which include postdoctoral researchers, graduate students and visiting scientists, strive to protect crops at the intersection of horticulture production and environmental protection.
Cave’s team members concur that their supervisor elevated the center’s capabilities with his talents as a publisher and as an editor. Under his leadership, Cave selected six new faculty members who are well prepared to face the most challenging plant production problems of the 21st century, including emerging diseases and changing climate conditions, the increasing number of invasive species, and complications around water resources.
“Dr. Cave emphasizes the importance of publishing continually and helping junior faculty members to identify and meet the standards of the most prominent scientific journals in our specific disciplines,” said Zhenli He, associate center director and professor of soil, water, and ecosystem science. “Dr. Cave motivated us to perform at our highest level.”
Since 2016, the number of publications attributed to IRREC scientists increased steadily. Google Scholar indexes climbed to a level that outcompeted IFAS departments throughout the entire state. In 2022, IRREC faculty members produced 57 refereed journal articles, that is, published out, or work that the scientists’ peers evaluated. And although many IFAS departments had higher numbers of publications, IRREC's number of publications per research full-time employee was number one in 2022, as it was in 2021.
“More impressive is the publications per research full-time employee: 8.8 in 2019, 11.5 in 2020, 13.2 in 2021, 13.0 in 2022,” Cave said.
Cave counts a total of 61 publications for 2023, four more than for 2022, but comparative results for all the IFAS departments are not yet available for 2023. “We hope to maintain the same standards as the previous years,” Cave wrote in an opening piece in a recent IRREC Newsletter.
As with himself, Cave is known to “push” his faculty members to reach new findings and advance science at the global level through distinguished journals. Along with a colleague, Brett Ratcliffe, Cave published a series of volumes about dynastine scarab beetles in the Western Hemisphere. The two beetle experts garnered international recognition from the Royal Entomological Society in the United Kingdom for their work together. In 2021, society leaders presented Cave and Ratcliffe with the J.O. Westwood Award, a coveted international recognition specific to the taxonomy and meticulous inventorying of insect faunas.
“Dr. Cave and I have published a series of monographs that cover all the rhinoceros beetle species in North and Central America and the West Indies. We continue to publish our biodiversity surveys about this large group of beetles in South America,” said Brett Ratcliffe, entomology professor emeritus at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Ratcliffe completed one volume alone, and six with Cave, of faunal surveys and taxonomy of New World rhinoceros beetles, including discovering species new to science. Many species are little-known, and their collaborative work provides original research of scientific excellence on the classification description, distribution, and natural history of these beetles, Ratcliffe said.
Since the Royal Entomological Society's award selection was announced for Cave and Ratcliffe's work. a sixth monograph was published in 2020 on the dynastine scarab beetles of Ecuador, which was supported by finding from the National Geographic Society, and a seventh was published in 2023 on dynastine scarab beetles of Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. Cave and Ratcliffe produced a journal article that covers the fauna in Chile.
Liliana Cano said her supervisor understands that science evolves constantly, and new equipment can enhance the quality of scientific discovery.
Cano raves about Cave’s values as a scientific leader who can identify the most talented new faculty members who address the industries they serve with what Cave refers to as “hard-hitting science.” Cano celebrates Cave’s initiation and implementation of the “Gene Expression Room” that she and other scientists use for transcriptomics. They work with RNA in plant cells to investigate plant genes and diseases. Cano celebrates Cave’s initiation and implementation of the “Gene Expression Room” that she and other scientists use for transcriptomics. Transcriptomics broadly refers to the study of RNA related to its expression levels and enables a holistic disease view, leading to more accurate detection of pathogens.
“Due to an increase of new IRREC scientists, Dr. Cave realized the need for new scientific tools,” Cano said. “Dr. Cave provided a high-end machine used to study pathogens and insect pests. He added new microscopes to both the plant science and the biological control lab to analyze large groups of samples and separate those most useful. The new microscopes use fluorescence to separate the samples. It was a huge support for the new faculty members.”
Supporting faculty members is central to Cave’s management style and vision to keep IRREC research professors on the competitive edge. Mark Ritenour, an IRREC horticulture professor with expertise in postharvest technology, noted Cave’s ability to maintain communications and collaborative projects among his team members during one of the most challenging eras in the early 21st century.
“Dr. Cave was successful in leading the center through the COVID-19 pandemic by maintaining good communication through a tremendous upheaval,” Ritenour said.
Lorenzo Rossi joins his colleagues in praise for Cave’s faculty leadership and support. Rossi is an assistant professor of plant root biology, part of the UF/IFAS Horticulture Department. Rossi points to Cave’s efforts to advance online education, innovations for alternative crop development and an exceedingly high number of award nominations.
“Dr. Cave’s multifaceted contributions have left an indelible mark on my program. His efforts have not only advanced my academic and research capabilities but also fostered a culture of excellence and recognition in my laboratory," said Rossi.
In his time as director, Cave’s nomination packages for 13 faculty members, a postdoctoral research associate and staff members have enjoyed success and recognition at elegant ceremonies in Gainesville, Florida, at the main UF campus. Rossi said Cave strategized and wrote letters of support for 10 additional awards for most of the IRREC laboratories. His dedication and meticulous effort in crafting recommendation letters significantly contributed to the recognition of faculty and students.
“Thanks to his support, I was honored with an Early Career Award from the American Society for Horticultural Science and a UF/IFAS Superior Accomplishment Award,” said Rossi. “Several students from my lab received recognition due to the compelling letters of recommendation Dr. Cave wrote on their behalf.”
Cave leads his research faculty members to explore alternative crops. The Millennium Block, a citrus grove that features more than 5,500 new trees, some of which are expected to tolerate citrus greening, the most serious citrus disease worldwide, was implemented in 2019. Other crops IRREC faculty researchers have explored or are currently working with include coffee, olives, eucalyptus and pongamia.
Although Ronald D. Cave is on track to retire in August, he plans to continue into retirement with his work to document and publish books about South American rhinoceros beetles with Ratcliffe, and South American colleagues.
“Retirement simply means more time to devote to continuing this scientific series,” said Ratcliffe.
Currently, the two entomologists are at work on two more volumes for the dynastine scarab beetle faunas in Peru (expected release 2025) and Bolivia (expected release 2027). Cave is also involved in projects to survey the natural enemies of the cycad aulacaspis scale in Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and southern Japan, with the ultimate goal of possibly introducing new biological control agents into these areas to protect native cycad forests.
The 78th Florida Citrus Show began in 1946 with the Indian River Seminar, offered by UF/IFAS research faculty members in the Indian River region. Then, as now, the event draws national and international attendance.
the 2024 Florida citrus show
IRREC Florida Citrus Show Leadership
Dr. Mark Ritenour is a respected research scientist serving citrus and vegetable industries.
With his expertise and Extension duties to provide the latest information on packinghouse matters and up-to-the-minute regulations for export fruit, Dr. Ritenour understands the citrus and vegetable industries immediate needs.
Tailgate-style and tented luncheon is a super-popular feature of the Florida Citrus Show.
Dr. Calvin Odero from UF/IFAS Everglades Research and Education Center presented common weeds present in vegetable production operations at a Vegetable Learning Station.
Tailgate Fun!!
The 78th Florida Citrus Show took place at IRREC and at the adjacent USDA Horticultural Research Laboratory.
Highlights for the show included a Citrus Breeders Panel as one of the Citrus Section Education Sessions.
NEWS FROM DR. MARK RITENOUR'S FRUIT QUALITY LABORATORY AND POSTHARVEST FACILITY
Each year, Dr. Mark Ritenour and Dr. Steve Sargent co-host The Postharvest Tour, providing participants with a weeklong tour of agricultural packing and shipping operations throughout Florida.
The Postharvest tour attracts participants from points across the nation. In this image Dr. Ritenour is alongside University of Puerto Rico faculty member Dr. Lynette Orellana. Other national attendees were students from Kansas State University. Two attendees represented the Florida Department of Agriculture.
Most of the Postharvest Tour attendees represent UF/IFAS's many departments:
- UF/IFAS Tropical Research and Education Center faculty and students
- UF graduate student representing the IFAS Plant Medicine program
- UF/IFAS Faculty members
- UF/IFAS Extension in Lake County
- UF/IFAS County Extension Director
- Seven UF/IFAS students representing the Department of Horticultural Sciences
- Three students representing UF/IFAS department of Food Science and Human Nutrition
The Florida Postharvest Tour, March 11 through 15
The Florida Postharvest Horticulture Tour brings participants “up-close and personal” to learn how fresh fruits, vegetables and ornamental crops are handled. With exclusive, behind-the-scenes visits hosted by top management, the tour group became familiar with the variety of methods and technologies employed to harvest, pack, cool, ship and receive fresh horticultural crops. Visits included large and small-scale operations to contrast various technologies, a major port, a fresh-cut processor, and a major farmers' market.
Join the tour here, in this edition of the IRREC News....
Day 1, Monday, March 11
Day 1 Tour itinerary:
- Fancy Farms: conventional strawberry production and harvest, Plant City, Florida.
- Wish Farms: strawberry cooling and storage and processing facility, Plant City, Florida.
- Port Manatee - Del Monte facility: pineapple and banana receiving and inspection, Tampa Bay, Florida.
Fancy Farms owner Dustin Grooms presents his production operation to Postharvest Tour participants.
Notice the refrigeration units on the front of all the shipping containers. Fresh fruit must be maintained at a steady temperature to ensure freshness.
Cargo shipped to Del Monte includes pineapple varieties and bananas from Costa Rica.
Day 2, March 12
Tour itinerary:
- Troyer Brothers: potato optical sorting and packing; in Fort Myers, Florida.
- Lipman Produce: grape and roma tomato packing, ethylene treatment, and tomato repack operation; in Immokalee, Florida.
- Purvis Farms: snap bean cooling and packing; in Immokalee, Florida.
- Lipman Produce: tomato breeding research and development; in Estero, Florida.
Aaron Troyer begins a tour of the company's potato postharvest handling. Handling the produce includes optical sorting and packing.
Red potatoes are unloaded from the field.
DAy 3, WEdnesDay, March 13
Tour itinerary for the day:
- Sun Harvest Citrus: gift fruit citrus packer and shipper; Fort Myers, Florida.
- Hardee Fresh: vertical production of organic greens and herbs: Wauchula, Florida.
- Duette Farms: strawberry robotic harvesting; Wauchula, Florida.
- Dundee Citrus Growers Association: CUPS, or Citrus Under Protective Screens with discussion of citrus harvest packing and peach operation; Fort Meade, Florida.
Sun Harvest Citrus
Hardee Fresh
Producing organic vegetables and herbs, vertically
Dundee Citrus Growers Association
It is possible to produce high quality citrus inside of Citrus Under Protective Screens, or CUPS.
DAY 4, thursdAY, MARCH 14
Tour itinerary for the day:
- Plant City State Farmers Market: market operation, produce quality, inspection and grade standards; Plant City, Florida.
- C&S Distribution Center: warehouse storage of fresh and processed fruits and vegetables; Plant City, Florida.
- Parkesdale Farm Market: locally grown strawberries, jams, preserves, citrus baskets. Also, home to the world famous strawberry shortcake shortcake and strawberry milkshake; Plant City, Florida.
Plant City State Farmers Market
The Plant City Farmers Market opened in early 1939. At the time it was the largest farmers market in the world. Growers would bring in their fresh produce by horse and wagon, to meet with buyers and negotiate for the best price. Nearly all of the sold produce would leave the facility by train.
Today, produce leaves the market by truck.
The present market serves 18 tenants including two truck brokers, two restaurants and seven packing companies. Also present are the Division of Agricultural Law, The Division of Fruits and Vegetable Inspectors, and more than 207,000 square feet of space for lease. The market is at 100% occupancy which earns $630,000 annually.
Fruits and vegetables sold and traded at the market include strawberries, tomatoes, watermelons, cantaloupes, peppers, beans, squash, cucumbers, eggplant, and okra. The market's peak season is from mid-October to mid-June. At this time, the commodity movement is well over five million units at ~$27 million. SOURCE: Plant City State Farmers Market Administration
Sweet canteloupes sold at the market are also produced in Costa Rica.
day 5, FRiday, march 15
Tour itinerary for the day:
- Cutrale: a citrus co-op, juice processing and packaging operation, in Auburndale, Florida
- JBT Corporation: presenting fresh produce technologies, in Lakeland, Florida
- Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc.: Banana ripening, fresh-cut fruit and vegetable facility, Plant City, Florida
Cutrale
JBT Corporation
JBT Corporation designs and provides equipment to extract juice and other fruit components (such as pulp and oils)
Publications from Dr. Mark Ritenour
Zhang G, C, G. Hoogenboom, M.A. Ritenour, S.M. Alam-Eldein, S.A. Sargent. 2024. Modeling the Relationship Between Postharvest Storage Conditions and Grapefruit Quality, Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2024.101171
An, J.P.p, J. Li, K. Rodrigues-Stuart, M.M. Dewdney, M.A. Ritenour, and Y. Wang 2024. Machine learning-based metabolomics analysis reveals the early biomarkers for Diplodia stem-end rot in grapefruit caused by Lasiodiplodia theobromae. Postharvest Biology and Technology 212:112868 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.postharvbio.2024.112868
Zhang, J., J. Yan, J. Bai, C. Hu, T. Pan, Y.J. Carrillo, D.E. Cardenas, L.M. Cano, and M.A. Ritenour. 2024. First Report of Lasiodiplodia pseudotheobromae Causing Postharvest Decay of Strawberries in Florida. Plant Disease 108:2, 519. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-07-23-1376-PDN
Pappu Yadavp, Thomas Burks, Jianwei Qin, Moon Kim, Quentin Frederick, Megan Dewdney, and Mark Ritenour. 2024. Automated Classification of Citrus Disease on Fruits and Leaves Using Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) Generated Features from Hyperspectral Images and Machine Learning Classifiers. Journal of Applied Remote Sensing (JARS) 18(1):014512 https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JRS.18.014512
IRREC service FOR THE ST. LUCIE COUNTY REGIONAL STEM SCIENCE fair
IRREC Emeritus Professor Dr. Charles Powell began to mentor local Science Fair students in 1989. Until he retired, Dr. Powell mentored ~25 students. A full 50% of those mentored by Dr. Powell advanced to the state and international competitions. One student placed first in the world, with her work to design a molecule that crossed the brain barrier and triggered the gene responsible for hunger.
Science Fair Judges serve local middle and high school students with constructive critique.
NEWS FROM DR. PASCO AVERY'S ENTOMOPATHOGENIC FUNGI RESEARCH LABORATORY
Dr. Pasco Avery presented the benefits of entomopathogenic fungi to growers who attended the Florida Citrus Show.
New research to determine the endophytic potential of the entomopathogenic fungus in Florida citrus.
First, let's define "endophyte". From the Oxford English dictionary: an organism (such as a bacterium or fungus) living within a plant.
Joseph Paoli uses aseptic techniques to cut leaves into sections.
Publications by the Entomopathogenic Fungi Research Laboratory Team
Chavez, A.V.; Duren, E.B.; Avery, P.B.; Pitino, M.; Duncan, R.E.; Cruz, L.F.; Carrillo, D.; Cano, L.M.; Cave, R.D. Evaluation of Spore Acquisition, Spore Production, and Host Survival Time for Tea Shot-Hole Borer, Euwallacea perbrevis, Adults after Exposure to Four Commercial Products Containing Beauveria bassiana. Insects 2023, 14, 726. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects14090726.
Avery, P. B., E. Barbeau, L. Ayala, and P. L. Lambdin. 2024. Assessing the efficacy of mass releases of Podisus maculiventris treatments for biocontrol of Mexican bean beetle populations infesting snap beans. Annals of Agricultural and Crop Sciences 9(2); 1153.
Presentations
Avery, P., L. Hallman, L. Rossi, and R. Cave. Occurrence of entomopathogenic fungi in soil collected from citrus groves with and without cover crops: a baseline analysis. Entomological Society of America Southeastern Branch Meeting. March 17-20, 2024.
Revynthi, A., G. Vargas, Y. Velazquez-Hernandez, and P. Avery. Efficacy of entomopathogenic fungi and bacteria against the hibiscus bud weevil Anthonomus testaceosquamosus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Entomological Society of America Southeastern Branch Meeting. March 17-20, 2024.
Toews, M., S. Wu, C. Dunlap, A. Sharma, P. Avery, and D. Shapiro-Ilan. Epizootics of entomopathogenic fungi in Georgia and Florida. Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting. November 5-8, 2023.
NEWS FROM DR. Zhenli He's soil, Water and Ecosystem LABORATORY
In 2024, we return to our Chinese New Year Celebration, hosted by Dr. Zhenli He's Soil, Water and Ecosystems Science Laboratory.
Prior to the Pandemic, Dr. Zhenli He's Soil, Water and Ecosystem Laboratory hosted an annual Chinese New Year Celebration. This year, the tradition resumed.
"Hard-hitting" research at the He Soil, Water and Ecosystem Laboratory evaluates.
Research with corn plants measure the possibility to reclaim waste water and utilize the resource to produce healthy crops.
UF/IFAS Superior Accomplishment Award recipient, Dr. Xiaoping Xin
Publications by Professor Dr. Zhenli He and Postdoctoral Research Associate Dr. Xiaoping Xin
X Xin, G Farid, J Nepal, S He, X Yang, Z He, Comparative effectiveness of carbon nanoparticles and biochar in alleviating copper stress in corn (Zea mays L.), Chemosphere 355, 141745, 2024.
Jiapan Lian, Liping Cheng, ,Xiwei Huang, ,a Xin Wang,a Yi Wang, Chaoyi Deng, Xiaoping Xin, Tong Zou, Yonglong Chen, Hongyu Yu, Weitao Liu, Jianqing Pan, Zhenli He, Xiaoe Yang, and Jason C. White, Varietal responses to a soil amendment: Balancing cadmium mitigation and mineral biofortification in wheat production, Science of The Total Environment 926, 171772 2024.
Zulfiqar Ali Sahito, Afsheen Zehra, Song Yu, Shaoning Chen, Mian Abdur Rehman Arif, Syed Turab Raza, Altaf Hussain Lahori, Mai Ali Mwaheb, Zhenli He, Xiaoe Yang, Folic acid supplementation improves seed germination, seedling growth and cadmium uptake in a mining ecotype of Solanum nigrum L., Environmental Technology & Innovation,Volume 34, 2024, 103600, ISSN 2352-1864, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eti.2024.103600. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352186424000762)
Zhiqin Chen, Qizhen Liu, Shijun Zhang, Yasir Hamid, Jiapan Lian, Xiwei Huang, Tong Zou, Qiang Lin, Ying Feng, Zhenli He, Xiaoe Yang, Foliar application of plant growth regulators for enhancing heavy metal phytoextraction efficiency by Sedum alfredii Hance in contaminated soils: Lab to field experiments, Science of The Total Environment, Volume 913, 2024, 169788, ISSN 0048-9697, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169788, (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969723084188)
Zhiqin Chen, Qizhen Liu, Dan Chen, Yingjie Wu, Yasir Hamid, Qiang Lin, Shijun Zhang, Ying Feng, Zhenli He, Xianyuan Yin, Xiaoe Yang, Enhancing the phytoextraction efficiency of heavy metals in acidic and alkaline soils by Sedum alfredii Hance: A study on the synergistic effect of plant growth regulator and plant growth-promoting bacteria, Science of The Total Environment, Volume 9, 2024 ISSN 0048-9 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173029
Song Yu, Afsheen Zehra, Zulfiqar Ali Sahito, Wenkai Wang, Shaoning Chen, Ying Feng, Zhenli He, Xiaoe Yang, Cytokinin-mediated shoot proliferation and its correlation with phytoremediation effects in Cd-hyperaccumulator ecotype of Sedum alfredii, Science of The Total Environment, Volume 912, 2024, 168993, ISSN 0048-9697, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168993. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969723076222).
Lin, Q., Hamid, Y., Wang, H., Lu, M., Cao, X., Zou, T., He, Zhenli, .& Yang, X. (2024). Co-foliar application of zinc and nano-silicon to rice helps in reducing cadmium exposure risk: Investigations through in-vitro digestion with human cell line bioavailability assay. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 133822.
Jiapan Lian, Liping Cheng, Xin Wang, Yonglong Chen, Chaoyi Deng, Yi Wang, Jianqing Pan, Md. Jahidul Islam Shohag, Xiaoping Xin, Zhenli He, Xiaoe Yang, Bespoke ZnO NPs Synthesis Platform to Optimize Their Performance for Improving the Grain Yield, Zinc Biofortification, and Cd Mitigation in Wheat, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering 2024 12 (2), 716-727, DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c04045.
S Yu, A Zehra, ZA Sahito, W Wang, S Chen, Y Feng, Z. He, X Yang, Cytokinin-mediated shoot proliferation and its correlation with phytoremediation effects in Cd-hyperaccumulator ecotype of Sedum alfredii, Science of The Total Environment 912, 1689934, 2024. Foliar application of iron-based nanofertilizers to wheat grown in a Cd-contaminated field: implications for food safety and biofortification,
Dr. Flavia Zambon hosted a lovely Women's History Month luncheon
Dr. Flavia Zambon leads citrus production research at IRREC and is a member of the UF/IFAS statewide citrus team.
"Citrus production is our team's first priority," said Zambon. "The state's signature crop will continue as the UF/IFAS research team and producer partnerships work together to produce high-value citrus in the HLB-era.
Dr. Zambon's research with Other Tree Crops involves passion fruit
Dr. Zambon's team built trellises for passion fruit vines to grow.
"Passion Fruit is a high value crop that supplies juice, oils for cosmetics, and fiber for animal food," said Zambon.
Meet Nick Stroobosscher, a summer intern who pursues a BSc degree at Michigan State University. Nick interned in Dr. Liliana Cano's laboratory last summer. His career interests are in computer science and agricultural operations, with a special interest in plant science.
Dr. Zambon examines a passion fruit vine as it grows on the trellis the team built to support the new crop research. The vines are only two months old and will within a few months climb to the top of the greenhouse.
The tendrils appear like a green rope and wrap around the trellis infrastructure. The tendrils begin in leaf axils and wind around the vine. Dr. Zambon and Nick Stroobossher protract the tendrils around the trellis.
Nodes at the base of leaves produce a fragrant, self-pollinating flower that will grow two to three inches wide. The flowers open in the early morning and close at night.
A full passion fruit flower blooms. Image provided by Dr. Amir Rezazadeh.
Mature passion fruit vines. This image was provided by Dr. Amir Rezazadeh.
"COPPER MINING, Breeding the Copperband Butterflyfish, Chelmon rostratus," appeared in Coral magazine, serving international aquaculture industry leaders
Dr. Lorenzo Rossi and Audrey Beany represented IRREC at the Florida State Capitol for the 2024 Gator Day. Audrey and Dr. Rossi distributed wedges of fresh Indian River grapefruit to participants at the 2024 Gator Day at the Florida State Capitol. The also distributed "stress balls" shaped like grapefruit halves that bear the IRREC logo. Their "farmers' market stand" attracted many locals, University officials and Albert and Alberta Gator mascots.
Dr. Lorenzo Rossi and Ph.D. Candidate Lukas Hallman participate in an internship at the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, in Zürich, Switzerland.
Ph.D. candidate Lukas Hallman prepares wood samples for staining and microscopic view to determine what tree rings may reveal about the disease progression of citrus greening over time.
NATIONAL AWARD
Ph.D. Candidate Lukas Hallman will be honored as an Outstanding Graduate Horticulture Student at the American Society for Horticultural Science annual meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, this September.
The Plant Root Biology Laboratory team welcomes Visiting Scholar Khalid Hussain for a second term this summer. Khalid visits from the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan.
If your area of interest is horticulture, this course is for you!
news from The Guzmán Smart irrigation and hydrology laboratorY
MSc student, Zoë Stroobosscher
Zoë Stroobosscher was awarded the 2024-2025 American Geophysical Union (AGU) Voices for Science fellowship to participate in the policy track.
As part of this program, she traveled to Washington DC April 15-17 and met with Florida senators and representatives to discuss our scientific progress related to sustainable water resources management and the role of agriculture.
Akshara Athelly, PhD Candidate
Publications from the Smart Irrigation and Hydrology Laboratory
Murcia, E., (G) Guzmán, S. M., & Niedz, R.P. (2024). Using Oxygen Ultrafine Bubble (UFB) Injectors to Treat Various Water Types. Journal of Environmental Engineering, 150(5), 04024018. https://doi.org/10.1061/JOEEDU.EEENG-7428.
Stroobosscher, Z.J, (G) Athelly, A(G)& Guzmán, S. M. (2024). Assessing capacitance soil Moisture Sensor Probes’ Ability to Sense Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium Using Volumetric Ion Content. Front. Agron. 6:1346946., https://doi.org/10.3389/fagro.2024.1346946.
Conde, Gregory, Sandra M. Guzmán, and Akshara Athelly. "Adaptive and predictive decision support system for irrigation scheduling: An approach integrating humans in the control loop." Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 217 (2024): 108640.
Botache, Eduart Murcia, and Sandra Guzman. "How to Identify If Your Time Series Inputs Are Adequate for AI Applications: Assessing Minimum Data Requirements in Environmental Analyses: AE594, 12/2023." EDIS 2024.1 (2024).
Dr. Carey Minteer and the Entomology Lab team hosted a special Earth Day Luncheon on April 26, 2024
The Minteer Biological Control of Weeds Laboratory
Awards:
Minteer Lab MSc Student, Emily Le Falchier, was awarded 3rd place in the Florida Invasive Species Council’s Graduate Student Presentation Competition.
Emily Le Falchier was also awarded 2nd place in the Florida Invasive Species Council’s Graduate Student Poster Competition.
Minteer Lab MSc student, Philip Clark, was awarded 1st place in the Florida Invasive Species Council’s Graduate Student Poster Competition.
Above is a link to one of the stories, but all of the features are behind paywalls.
Milestone:
Minteer Biological Control Weed Laboratory Presentations:
Clark, P, M.C. Smith, and C.R. Minteer. Predatory arthropod abundance and diversity on earleaf acacia (Acacia auriculiformis) in Florida. Florida Invasive Species Council Annual Meeting. April 10-12, 2024.
Le Falchier, E. J., and C. R. Minteer. Temperature dependent development of a potential biological control agent for earleaf acacia (Acacia auriculiformis). Florida Invasive Species Council Annual Meeting. April 10-12, 2024.
Le Falchier, E.J., S. Salgado, and C.R. Minteer. Taking a Citizen Science Approach to Mapping the Next Big Invader. Florida Invasive Species Council Annual Meeting. April 10-12, 2024.
Minteer, C. R., U. Mohammed, A. Singh, S. Lantin, and M. C. Smith. Using drones to assess natural enemy impacts in aquatic systems. National Forum on Biological Control (invited). March 11-14, 2024.
Minteer, C. R., S. Salgado, M. C. Smith, and M. F. Purcell. Attempting to stay ahead of the invasion curve: Classical biological control of the next big invader. Entomological Society of America Southeastern Branch Meeting March 17-20, 2024.
Minteer, C. R. Increasing the Impact of Your Research through Collaboration with Extension Professionals: Stories from Biological Control. Entomological Society of America Southeastern Branch Meeting March 17-20, 2024.
Mohammed, U., A. Singh, S. Lantin, M.C. Smith, and C.R. Minteer. Developing Novel, Remote Sensing Techniques to Accurately Detect the Impact of Biological Control on Water-hyacinth (Pontederia crassipes) Mart. Florida Invasive Species Council Annual Meeting. April 10-12, 2024.
Telmadarrehei, T., and C.R. Minteer. Feasibility of Using Biological Control of Brazilian Peppertree in Mangroves. Florida Invasive Species Council Annual Meeting. April 10-12, 2024.
Minteer Biological Control Weed Laboratory Presentations:
Manrique, V., Kraus, E., Schaffer, C., Diaz, R., Kelm, C., Poffenberger, R., Rohrig, E., Murray, R., David, A., Smith, M., Lake, E., Minteer, C.R., Le Falchier, E., Mass, J., Hight, S. 2023. Assessing the status of biological control of air potato (Dioscorea bulbifera) in Southeastern USA. Biocontrol Science and Technology, 33: 1173-1185. DOI: 10.1080/09583157.2023.2294207
Lieurance, D., Canavan, S. Behringer, D.C., Kendig, A.E., Minteer, C.R., Reisinger, L.S., Romagosa, C.M., Flory, S.L., Lockwood, J.L., Anderson, P.J., Baker, S.M, Bojko, J., Bowers, K.E G, Canavan, K., Carruthers, K. G, Daniel, W.M., Gordon, D.R., Hill, J.E., Howeth, J.G., Iannone III, V.V., Jennings, L. Gettys, L.A., Kariuki, E.M. P, Kunzer, J.M., Laughinghouse, H.D., Mandrak, N.E., McCann, S., Morawo, T., Morningstar, C.R., Neilson, M., Petri, T., Pfingsten, I.A., Reed, R.N., Walters, L.J., and C. Wanamaker. 2023. Identifying invasive species threats, pathways, and impacts to improve biosecurity. Ecosphere 14:e4711. DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4711Publications:
Manrique, V., Kraus, E., Schaffer, C., Diaz, R., Kelm, C., Poffenberger, R., Rohrig, E., Murray, R., David, A., Smith, M., Lake, E., Minteer, C.R., Le Falchier, E., Mass, J., Hight, S. 2023. Assessing the status of biological control of air potato (Dioscorea bulbifera) in Southeastern USA. Biocontrol Science and Technology, 33: 1173-1185. DOI: 10.1080/09583157.2023.2294207
Lieurance, D., Canavan, S. Behringer, D.C., Kendig, A.E., Minteer, C.R., Reisinger, L.S., Romagosa, C.M., Flory, S.L., Lockwood, J.L., Anderson, P.J., Baker, S.M, Bojko, J., Bowers, K.E G, Canavan, K., Carruthers, K. G, Daniel, W.M., Gordon, D.R., Hill, J.E., Howeth, J.G., Iannone III, V.V., Jennings, L. Gettys, L.A., Kariuki, E.M. P, Kunzer, J.M., Laughinghouse, H.D., Mandrak, N.E., McCann, S., Morawo, T., Morningstar, C.R., Neilson, M., Petri, T., Pfingsten, I.A., Reed, R.N., Walters, L.J., and C. Wanamaker. 2023. Identifying invasive species threats, pathways, and impacts to improve biosecurity. Ecosphere 14:e4711. DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4711
Dr. Carey Minteer presented "Biological control for aquatic and upland vegetation management" at the UF/IFAS Aquatic Weed Control Short Course held in Orlando, Florida in mid-May, 2024.
Minteer Lab MSc candidate Sheri Holmes' work with the Monarch butterfly.
The next phase of development is the caterpillar forms a chrysalis and becomes a pupae.
Note the gold markings formed by the caterpillar as it transforms to a chrysalis. The gold stripes are a product of chemicals in milkweed plants. Milkweed is the primary food caterpillars and Monarch butterflies consume.
NEWS FROM the quinn biological control of invasive invertebrates LABORATORY
Field season has begun in the Quinn Biological Control of Invasive Invertebrates Laboratory!
MSc student Noah Barguez-arias began collecting insects and camera footage to document the natural enemies of snails (Bulimulus bonariensis) in citrus groves. PhD student Jin Jeong is studying Lebbeck mealybug (Niapecoccus viridis) parasitoids in citrus groves and surrounding habitats. Both of these species are pests in citrus and other specialty crops.
Our team worked hard to plan and initiate these projects, which are already delivering intriguing data! We look forward to sharing updates on how these projects develop.
This spring semester, Dr. Quinn taught a graduate-level course on Biological Control. The redeveloped course included a new student-centered community of learning research project on invasive mole crickets. Students located throughout Florida used acoustic traps that played the sounds of mole cricket songs to attract and collect mole crickets and determine whether the crickets were infested with their introduced biological control agent, a nematode. While fewer crickets than expected were caught, the students learned a great deal about collaborative research and applied classical biological control.
The project was supported by a grant obtained by Dr. Quinn and Dr. Adam Dale (UF/IFAS Department of Entomology and Nematology) from the UF/IFAS College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
The course title is, “Mole cricket mayhem: Integrating in-person instruction of practical skills into an online asynchronous course”.
Field work
Dr. Nicole Quinn collaborates with Dr. Sandra Guzmán to investigate invasive snails in a grower's field.
Dr. Nicole Quinn and Dr. Sandra Guzmán collaborate on a research project with local growers. In this image, Dr. Guzmán uploads data collected in the field
MSc student Noah Barguez-arias (left) and PhD student Jin Jeong (right) work together to deploy sampling devices to collect data on mealybug parasitoid activity in citrus groves and surrounding habitats.
Image: Dr. Nicole Quinn