American beech fungus

**jo ellen meyers sharp h*@sbcglobal.net**

FYI --

STORY LEAD:
Thanks to Systematics, Battle Is on To Save a Great American Hardwood
__________________________________________________

ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
Erin Peabody, (301) 504-1624, erin.peabody@ars.usda.gov
September 26, 2006
--View this report online, plus any included photos or other images, 
at www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr
__________________________________________________

New England's famous fall colors just wouldn't be the same without 
the fiery coppers and reds of the American beech tree. Unfortunately, 
this key member of North America's eastern hardwood forests is slowly 
being eaten alive by a group of fungi that have, up to now, baffled 
and confused researchers.

Now, thanks to systematists with the Agricultural Research Service in 
Beltsville, Md., it's clear that two distinct fungi in the Neonectria 
genus should be targeted in the scramble to keep beech trees out of 
harm's way. Systematics is the study of how the world's myriad 
organisms are identified, described and classified.

Causing tree dieback and sometimes death, beech bark disease (BBD) 
has so far left its biggest scar on the nation's northeastern 
forests. Creeping southward along the spine of the Appalachian 
Mountains, the disease currently threatens to invade vast beech tree 
stands across parts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Like genealogy experts mapping a family tree, ARS researchers Amy 
Rossman and Lisa Castlebury at the agency's Systematic Botany and 
Mycology Laboratory sorted out the murky relationships between the 
many Neonectria fungi that appeared linked to BBD.

They've now confirmed that two Neonectria species are of real 
concern. One is N. faginata, which may be native to North America. 
The other, N. galligena, attacks multiple hardwoods, including fruit 
trees.

This information will be vital to researchers trying to breed trees 
resistant to BBD and to inspectors charged with preventing pathogenic 
fungi from entering the country.

If you're in the Washington, D.C., area and are interested in 
learning more about the many ways ARS systematists like Rossman and 
Castlebury have helped safeguard the nation's agriculture and natural 
resources, you're in luck!

An interactive exhibit, entitled "Systematics: Roots and 
Relationships," is now on display at the U.S. Botanic Garden (USBG) 
on the National Mall. It runs through October 16. See the USBG 
website at http://www.usbg.gov/ for further information.

ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.
__________________________________________________

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