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The battle between humans and plant pests is as old as agriculture, but the movement of pests as a consequence of human activities has been exacerbated only recently. International research collaboration is increasingly important to tackle pests causing serious damage to economies.

Despite recent reports advancing our understanding of climate change on plant diseases, uncertainty remains concerning how host and pathogen interactions are changed by increases in atmospheric carbon-dioxide (CO2) and temperature. This study has observed crown rot inoculated and non-inoculated plants in three glasshouse environments comprising ambient CO2 with ambient temperature (E1), elevated CO2 with ambient temperature (E2) and elevated CO2 with warm temperatures (E3). The proportion of crown rot infected tillers (incidence), length of stem browning (severity) and biomass of Fusarium pseudograminearum in 16 wheat genotypes was destructively assessed at node development, anthesis, soft dough and crop maturity. Mean incidence, severity and Fusarium biomass was greater in E2, and all three measurements increased at a faster rate across plant development stages; E1 showed the lowest mean incidence and severity. Incidence and severity at each development stage was dependent on the environment each genotype was grown. The influence of genotype on Fusarium biomass at each development stage however was not seen to be dependent on environment. Irrespective of genotype plants with greater severity or relative Fusarium biomass showed lower plant dry weight at crop maturity in all environments with exception to E3, where CR severity did not exert a cost to plant dry weight. These results may allude to plant maturity and temperature-dependent resistance as effective mechanisms in building resistance to crown rot. Regardless of temperature, if crown rot symptoms and Fusarium biomass are to increase at elevated CO2 there is potential for a loss in crop production capability while boosting inoculum in crop stubble.

This study examines the CO2‐mediated influence of plant resistance on crown rot dynamics under continuous cropping of partially resistant wheat line 249 and the susceptible cultivar Tamaroi. Disease incidence, severity, deoxynivalenol and Fusarium biomass were assessed after each cycle in microcosms established at ambient and 700 mg kg−1 CO2 using soil and stubble of these wheat lines from a field experiment with free to air CO2 enrichment. Monoconidial isolates from wheat stubble were collected initially, and after five cropping cycles, to compare the frequency and aggressiveness of Fusarium species in the two populations. Aggressiveness was measured using a high‐throughput seedling bioassay. At elevated CO2, the higher initial incidence in Tamaroi increased with cropping cycles, but incidence in 249 remained unchanged. Incidence at ambient CO2 did not change for either line. Elevated CO2 induced partial resistance in Tamaroi, but not in 249. Increased Fusarium biomass in wheat tissue at elevated CO2 matched raised deoxynivalenol of the stem base in both lines. After five cycles of continuous wheat cropping, aggressiveness increased in pathogenic F. culmorum and F. pseudograminearum by 110%, but decreased in weakly pathogenic F. equiseti and F. oxysporum by 50%. CO2 and host resistance interactively influenced species frequency, and the highly aggressive F. pseudograminearum became dominant on Tamaroi irrespective of CO2 concentration, while its frequency declined on 249. This study shows that induced resistance at elevated CO2 will not reduce crown rot severity, or impede the selection and enrichment of Fusarium populations with increased aggressiveness.

There is increasing concern that the current management practices for many coastal regions are unsustainable.Very few countries have planned to deal with the exacerbation of problems of environmental decline in the face of climate change leading to more serious flood events caused by sea level rise, severe storms, tidal waves, etc.It is therefore necessary to assess socio-economic and environmental impacts of floods to better understand the vulnerability of the coastal zone, as part of devising adaptive and integrated management principles.The paper presents a systematic approach in which relevant stakeholders in five Asia-Pacific countries were actively engaged in identifying and prioritizing flood impact issues.Key issues of concern for flood impacts for coastal areas in Australia, Japan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam are compared.

The Hrp pathogenicity island (hrpPAI) of Erwinia amylovora not only encodes a type III secretion system (T3SS) and other genes required for pathogenesis on host plants, but also includes the so-called island transfer (IT) region, a region that originates from an integrative conjugative element (ICE). Comparative genomic analysis of the IT regions of two Spiraeoideae- and three Rubus-infecting strains revealed that the regions in Spiraeoideae-infecting strains were syntenic and highly conserved in length and genetic information, but that the IT regions of the Rubus-infecting strains varied in gene content and length, showing a mosaic structure. None of the ICEs in E. amylovora strains were complete, as conserved ICE genes and the left border were missing, probably due to reductive genome evolution. Comparison of the hrpPAI region of E. amylovora strains to syntenic regions from other Erwinia spp. indicates that the hrpPAI and the IT regions are the result of several insertion and deletion events that have occurred within the ICE. It also suggests that the T3SS was present in a common ancestor of the pathoadapted Erwinia spp. and that insertion and deletion events in the IT region occurred during speciation.

The glassy-winged sharpshooter, Homalodisca vitripennis (Germar) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), is an important insect vector of the xylem-limited plant pathogen Xylella fastidiosa Wells et al. that causes diseases in numerous plant species including food and feedstock crops, ornamentals and weeds. Both the pathogen and the vector are native to the Americas, and H. vitripennis has demonstrated high invasive ability but to date neither has been detected in Australia. The Australian wine grape, table grape, peach, plum, nectarine and citrus industries are particularly concerned about the arrival of X. fastidiosa and H. vitripennis because of the potential economic impact on these important commodities. Other commodity producers in Australia should also be concerned about this vector-pathogen, in particular the ornamental plant, avocado and olive industries. Past interceptions of H. vitripennis and the potential for X. fastidiosa to be moved in live plant material or within live vectors indicate the need for rapid detection of an incursion in areas considered at high risk. This requires identification of regions that have climatic and environmental conditions conducive to X. fastidiosa and H. vitripennis establishment as well as a detailed knowledge of their respective potential host plant ranges in new areas. These climatic regions and host plant species can then be targeted for monitoring in order to detect an incursion at an early stage. CLIMEX modelling has shown that much of coastal Australia has temperatures suitable for survival of both the vector and pathogen. A range of other requirements in addition to suitable climate must, however, be satisfied for an incursion to lead to establishment, proliferation and spread. This review article provides information that shows that the Australian environment is suitable for the establishment of H. vitripennis and that Australian native plant species are likely to serve as X. fastidiosa hosts and subsequent pathogen sources, and highlights future research directions.

Despite complex regional patterns of projected climate change, significant decreases in food crop yields have been predicted using the ‘worst case’ CO2 emission scenario (A1FI) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Overall, climate change is predicted to have a progressively negative effect on the yield of food crops, particularly in the absence of efforts to mitigate global CO2 emissions. As with all species, plant pathogens will have varying responses to climate change. Whilst the life cycle of some pathogens will be limited by increasing temperatures, e.g. Puccinia striiformis f.sp. tritici, other climatic factors such as increasing atmospheric CO2, may provide more favourable conditions for pathogens such as Fusarium pseudograminearum. Based on published literature and unpublished work in progress, we have reviewed the qualitative effects of climate change on pathogens that cause disease of four major food crops: wheat, rice, soybean and potato. The limited data show that the influence will be positive, negative or neutral, depending on the host–pathogen interaction. Quantitative analysis of climate change on pathogens of these crops is largely lacking, either from field or laboratory studies or from modelling‐based assessments. Systematic quantitative analysis of these effects will be necessary in developing future disease management plans, such as plant breeding, altered planting schedules, chemical and biological control methods and increased monitoring for new disease threats.

Global climate change threatens world food production via direct effects on plant growth and alterations to pest and pathogen prevalence and distribution. Complex relationships between host plant, pest, pathogen and environment create uncertainty particularly involving vector-borne diseases. We attempt to improve the understanding of the effects of climate change via a detailed review of one crop-vector-pathogen system.The bird cherry-oat aphid, Rhopalosiphum padi, is a global pest of cereals and vector of yellow dwarf viruses that cause significant crop losses in cereals. R. padi exhibits both sexual and parthenogenetic reproduction, alternating between crops and other host plants. In Australia, only parthenogenesis occurs due to the absence of the primary host, thus the aphid continuously cycles from grasses to cereals, allowing for continuous virus acquisition and transmission.We have reviewed the potential impact of future climate projections on R. padi population dynamics, persistence, abundance, dispersal and migration events as well as the interactions between vector, virus, crop and environment, all of which are critical to the behaviour and development of the vector and its ability to transmit the virus. We identify a number of knowledge gaps that currently limit efforts to determine how this pathosystem will function in a future climate. Crown Copyright (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The role of biotic agents in the dieback syndrome Mundulla Yellows (MY) was investigated by analysis of 40 Eucalyptus camaldulensis, E. leucoxylon, or E. cladocalyx trees and soil samples from South Australia and Victoria, Australia. No pathogenic fungi, bacteria, phytoplasmas, or insect pests or vectors were found to be associated with MY. However, nematode analysis identified Merlinius spp. to be associated with soil, but not roots, from symptomatic trees. Interveinal chlorosis symptoms were not transmissible by seed, mechanical inoculation, or grafting using plant material derived from symptomatic trees. Virus-like particles were detected at a single symptomatic study site using transmission electron microscopy. MY symptoms were induced in E. camaldulensis seedlings by sowing seed from asymptomatic trees into sterilized and unsterilized soil collected from underneath symptomatic trees. Significantly, sterilized soil induced more severe symptoms in seedlings than unsterilized soil. Soil collected from under asymptomatic trees did not induce MY symptoms. This preliminary investigation indicates that, with the exception of Merlinius spp., pathogenic organisms and pests were not consistently associated with MY symptoms.