A new pathogen threatens to wipe out yet another native tree

October 30, 2023

The BLD damage might be easy to spot, but you can’t easily see the worms, a type of nematode named Litylenchus crenatae mccannii. Nonetheless, in six to 10 years, the nematodes can kill a tree. Since it was first discovered in Ohio in 2012, the disease has spread into neighboring states and New England. It’s now found in every county in Pennsylvania, according to Penn State University nematologist Mihail Kantor.

Forget the lantern fly. A mysterious new pest has scientists sounding the alarm.

August 6, 2023

The spotted lantern fly has dominated public attention in the United States, with local and federal government agencies mobilizing campaigns to, literally, stamp out the brightly colored bugs. But a different pest is killing trees and confounding scientists, and it has received precious little attention. Beech leaf disease has quietly raced across the country infecting a particular species of trees critical to forest ecosystems, the American beech. The mysterious condition has been shown to be caused by a newly discovered subspecies of nematodes, or microscopic worms.

Penn State researchers study beech leaf disease in PA

June 23, 2023

Beech leaf disease is affecting trees in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny National Forest.

Nematologist discovers four new species of plant-parasitic nematodes during fellowship

December 7, 2022

ORISE Success Story

December 6, 2022

Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology welcomes assistant research professor of nematology

October 27, 2022

The Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences welcomed a new faculty member on July 1.

Leaf disease continues to ravage Pa. beech trees

September 19, 2022

There’s a disease wreaking havoc on beech trees in Pennsylvania. Beech leaf disease currently is found in all but two of the state’s 67 counties.