01/31/07 Fungi allies

Fungi Allies Most of the time we hear the word fungus, we think of some kind of problem. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back to tell you why we might need to think a little differently. Normally when we talk about a fungus we are talking about a problem situation, but University of Idaho researcher, George Newcombe, talks about a potential beneficial situation. Fungi live off a host plant and are believed to boost the plant's survival in exchange for nutrients from the host plant. Now, that's how it works when everything is in balance, but Newcombe has shifted the balance by culturing the fungi in the lab and introducing it to the host plants in high concentrations. This procedure renders the host plant sterile. George Newcombe's target plant is the spotted knapweed. Knapweed invaded the United States about 100 years ago from Eastern Europe and Asia. A shipment of contaminated crop seed is believed to be the culprit. The knapweed family became a more serious problem in the Pacific Northwest about 30 to 40 years ago. This noxious weed has the ability to release toxin into the soil that stunts beneficial grasses used by grazing animals. Spotted knapweed usually gets a foothold in a pasture along a road where seeds have been deposited by vehicles. Control methods most of us have used include herbicide spraying or introducing insects from knapweed's native lands that help with containment. If field trials go as well as lab tests, a certain little fungus could be a big friend to livestock pastures. I'm Jeff Keane. Western Livestock Reporter 01/10/07