Paulitz, T.

T. Paulitz

A SmartChip for Pathogenic and Beneficial Microbes Underlying Soil Health

High-throughput, low-cost diagnostics for multiple aspects of soil health are a necessary component of maximizing the ability of researchers to understand soil health processes and farmers to effectively adopt soil health management practices. Across many growing regions of WA, soilborne diseases are a major limitation and given their patchy nature a large number of samples […]

Impact of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi on Phosphorus Use Efficiency and Root Diseases of Onion Crops

Onion growers in the semi-arid, irrigated Columbia Basin produce 27% of the storage onions in the USA, with a crop farmgate value ranging from $4,000-$7,000/acre. Symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) colonize roots of many plant species and help the plants mine soil more effectively for immobile nutrients, particularly phosphorus (P). AMF can also help defend […]

Exploring Root Architecture as a Defense against Soil-Borne Pathogens

Soil-borne pathogens, particularly root-lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus spp.), Fusarium spp., and Rhizoctonia spp. are a major constraint to grain production in the Pacific Northwest.  Yield losses associated with these pathogens rages from 20-60% in infested fields.  Symptoms often mimic drought or nutrient deficiencies because of plant root damage.  The options available to growers to control pathogen […]

Evaluation of seed treatments for organic vegetable production in the Pacific Northwest

This study addresses management of damping-off in organic vegetables in central Washington, using pea as an early season, model crop. The disease is being examined under low soil temperature and high soil moisture conditions of early spring in the Columbia Basin, when damping-off is most severe. PhD student, Ana Vida Alcala, spent 2009 and spring […]