U. S. Horticultural Research Laboratory 2001 South Rock Road Fort Pierce, FL 34945 Telephone: (561) 462-5887 Fax: (561) 462-5986 Email: ERosskopf@ushrl.ars.usda.gov
			Rosskopf lab team from left to right: Jackie Markle, Larry Markle, Erin Rosskopf, and Hallie Holcomb

Alternatives to Methyl Bromide for Vegetable Production

• Development of biological control agents for weed management. Current research projects include:
  • Phomopsis amaranthicola for management of pigweeds and amaranths (Amaranthus spp.).
  • Dactylaria higginsii for control of nutsedge (Cyperus spp.).
    Both of these projects are in cooperation with Dr. R. Charudattan, University of Florida.
    
    

    		Phomopsis on Pigweed
    	Pigweed		Yellow Nutsedge

    
    
  • Screening of rhizobacteria for inhibition of weed seed germination.
  • Development of mass-culturing techniques for Dichotomophthora portulacae, a pathogen of purslane (Portulaca oleracea).
  • Discovery and screening of new pathogens for weed control in vegetables.
• Screening of novel compounds for herbicidal and fungicidal activity
• Evaluation of the effects of alternative cropping systems and soil fumigants on weed population dynamics
• Assessment of rotational and cover crop effects on weed populations and weed-associated plant pathogenic fungi
• Evaluation of existing methyl bromide alternatives for production of tomato, pepper, and strawberry. A portion of this work is conducted in cooperation with Drs. S. Locascio, J. Gilreath, and J. Noling, University of Florida.

Selected Publications

Rosskopf, E.N., Mitchell, D.J., Kannwisher-Mitchell, M.E., Gilreath, J.P., Locascio, S.J., and Olson, S.M. 2000. Effect of transplant type and soil disinfestation treatment on fungal root colonization of strawberry. Phytopathology 90:S66.

Chellemi, D.O., Mitchell, D.J., Kannwischer-Mitchell, M.E., Rayside, P.A., and Rosskopf, E.N. 2000. Pythium spp. associated with bell pepper production in Florida. Plant Disease 84:1271-1281.

Locascio, S.J., Olson, S.M., Gilreath, J.P., Dickson, J.W., Mitchell, D.J., Noling, J.W. Chase, C.A., Sinclair, T.R., and Rosskopf, E.N. 1999. Alternatives fumigants to methyl bromide for strawberry. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Florida State Horticultural Society, Volume 12.

Rosskopf, E.N., Charudattan, R., Shabana, Y.M., and Benny, G.L. 2000. Phomopsis amaranthicola, a new species from Amaranthus spp. Mycologia 92:114-122. 

Rosskopf, E.N., Charudattan, R., Stall, W.M., and DeValerio, J.T. 2000. Field evaluation of Phomopsis amaranthicola, a biological control agent of Amaranthus spp. Plant Disease 84:1225-1230.

Rosskopf, E.N., Chellemi, D.O., Charudattan, R., and Chandramohan, S. 2000. Alternatives to methyl bromide for weed control. Acta Horticultura 532:103-107.

Book Chapters

Rosskopf, E.N., Charudattan, R., and Kadir, J.B. 1999. Use of Plant Pathogens in Weed Control, IN: Handbook of Biological Control, Fisher et al. eds. Academic Press. pp. 891-918.

Rosskopf, E.N. 2000. Biological Control of Weeds with Plant Pathogens, IN: Encyclopedia of Plant Pathology, Murray et al. Eds. Harcourt Brace.

Patents

Charudattan, R., Shabana, Y.M., DeValerio, J. T., and Rosskopf, E.N. 1995. A broad spectrum bioherbicide for controlling pigweed species. U.S. Patent No. 5,393,728. February 8, 1995.

Charudattan, R., Shabana, Y.M., DeValerio, J. T., and Rosskopf, E.N. 1996. Phomopsis species fungus useful as a broad-spectrum bioherbicide to control several species of pigweeds. U.S. Patent No. 5,510,316. April 23, 1996.

Last modified: 2/14/2001.   Send comments or questions to tgottwald@ushrl.ars.usda.gov.