Soliciting barley scald specimens

Dear Field Crop Educators: 

Dr. Judith (Judy) Kolkman is a research associate in the Sorrells and Bergstrom Labs who is working to improve resistance to scald disease in adapted winter malting barley varieties. There is documentation of virulence variation (i.e., races) among isolates of the scald fungus in various countries. Judy wants to document the variation among isolates of this fungus in New York so that resistance can be selected against representative isolates. Judy and I request your assistance in collecting barley leaf samples with scald symptoms (see attached image). These can be from winter or spring barley, feed or malt varieties, or even ornamental or wild Hordeum species (e.g., H. jubatum – foxtail barley). Judy would like to know the location (ideally GPS) where the sample was collected and the cultivar if known. You are most likely to see scald in winter barley; KWS Scala is a particularly susceptible variety. Just take a few symptomatic leaves, press them flat (no added moisture) and mail them in a paper envelope to:

Attn: Dr. Judith Kolkman

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

School of Integrative Plant Science

428 Plant Science Building

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY 14853-5904

Thanks for your assistance! Gary

Gary C. Bergstrom, Ph.D., Professor

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section
School of Integrative Plant Science
Cornell University
135 Plant Science Building

Ithaca, NY 14853-5904 USA 

Last updated May 18, 2023