The Index of Pla
nt Diseases in Guam began as an informal conversation in 2011 between Dr. Robert Schlub, University of Guam and Dr. Susan Cohen, Minnesota Center for Regulatory Research, regarding ways to strengthen Guam’s diagnostic capabilities. This lead to the submission and the awarding in 2014 of the WSARE Professional Development Program grant EW-14-006: Plant Disease Diagnostic Training for Agriculture Professionals in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. The purpose of the index is to update, and centralize, identified plant disease information in a form that is dynamic and easily revised.
Download the 1st Edition of the Index of Plant Diseases in Guam
The Index is entrusted to the University of Guam’s Extension Plant Pathologist, Dr. Robert Schlub:
Adding to and compiling all the information available on Guam’s plant diseases has been a goal of mine. This project would not have been possible if it weren’t for the records left by others over the past hundred years: Rossman Trujillo, Marutani, McConnell, Russo, Lee, Yudin, Wall, Beaver, Cruz, Santo, Mersha, Dixon, and Quitugua. I am especially appreciative of those that have played a role in securing the funding, compiling the information and making it available to the public: Dr. Lee Yudin, Director Guam Cooperative Extension Service, Dr. Susan Cohen, Roger Brown, Sheeka Tareyama, and Victoria Santos.
The Index is intended as a general reference of plant diseases in Guam and is derived, without bias, from a wild array of resources with varying degree of authenticity. As a means to exclude possible saprophytes and non-pathogenic organisms, wherever possible, entries will be confirmed as likely pathogens through a search of the literature or by an authoritative identifier. This list of plant diseases and their hosts in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands was compiled from local, regional, and national resources, as well as personal communications. Sources include the Guam Agricultural Experiment Station Reports dating back to 1972, Guam Cooperative Extension fact sheets and production guides, the University of Guam Journal Micronesica dating back to 1969, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Beltsville, Maryland records, and literature searches from various sources including the Center for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI), and the South Pacific Commission (SPC).
The index is an accumulative list of infectious plant pathogens along with their hosts and associated diseases. Much of the information is from lists produced over the years by Wall, Russo, Trujillo and others. Though these lists are useful, their accompanying references are often not directly linked to a given pathogen or disease, nor to the author of record. During the course of preparing the Index of Plant Diseases in Guam efforts were made to credit identifiers and original citations. References were prioritized starting with earliest report, refereed journal articles, authoritative identification, symposium presentations, abstracts, personal communications, and accumulative lists.
Where available, seven elements of information are provided for each entry: Host: Common (English, Chamorro, Tagalog); Host binomial (Genus and Species); Pathogen (Genus and Species); Characteristic of Pathogen; Disease; and Reference. The elements are rearranged and truncated depending on the index format: Pathogen binomial/Host binomial, Host/Pathogen binomial/Disease, Disease/Host.
To allow for ease of inclusions, references will be added sequentially, with the approval of the editor. The pathogen, host, and disease lists will be arranged alphabetically.
If you would like to submit a correction or addition to the index for future editions please email: uogpathogen@gmail.com.
This publication is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 2014-38640-22175 through the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program under subaward number EW14-006. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider.