Good Fruit Grower

December 2015

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www.goodfruit.com Good Fruit Grower DECEMBER 2015 83 of fruit tree planting materials into the country must first pass through this protocol. Bill Howell, operations manager of NRSP-005 when Eastwell arrived in 1997, said that federal funding for this critically important program kept shrinking every year down to a level that would not pay for even one person's salary. The future of NRSP-005 was uncertain. That was when Eastwell began to promote the idea of a federally supported national clean plant network. Eastwell played a leadership role in the National Clean Plant Network initiative, a plan to network existing clean plant centers in the country to facilitate the introduction, virus-testing, and eventual release of clean plant materials to the growers. The tree fruit and grape indus- tries were the first to embrace this ini- tiative. In 2008, he hosted the inaugural meeting of the federally funded National Clean Plant Network (NCPN). Howell said that Eastwell rescued the NRSP-005 program from elimination with the new federal NCPN funding. In the year 2000, Eastwell assumed management of the foundational hop program, and in 2008, he became direc- tor of the Northwest Grape Foundation Service with Dr. Markus Keller. In 2011 he brought together the three WSU foun- dational programs of fruit trees, grapes, and hops, and the ELISA diagnostic test- ing laboratory under one management and named it the Clean Plant Center Northwest (CPCNW). Eastwell used novel molecular approaches to improve detection and identification of viruses and virus-like agents and maintained a special focus on cherry diseases, especially cherry leafroll and little cherry disease. He inter- acted with growers on a daily basis and frequently made site visits to investigate suspicious tree symptoms. In 2013, he received the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's Plant Protection and Quarantine Deputy Administrator's Safeguarding Award in 2013 for serving on the Farm Bill Management Team. In 2014, he received the American Phytopathological Society Award for Excellence in Regulatory Affairs and Crop Security. The Clean Plant Center Northwest will continue its mission to serve the tree fruit, grape, and hop industries through virus-testing services and propagation, maintenance, and distribution of virus- free plant materials. Gary Grove, director of the WSU-Prosser research and extension center, will serve as interim director of the center until a new director is hired. After he retires, Eastwell plans to return to WSU on emeritus status to continue ongoing research projects in cherries and hops. In particular, he is interested in continuing his work toward improved management strategies for little cherry disease, which has been a major concern for Washington cherry growers over the past five years. "Ken Eastwell is considered the world's expert on little cherry disease," said Dr. Dan Villamor, virologist with the Clean Plant Center Northwest. While Eastwell and his staff have made significant advances toward understand- ing this complex disease, much is still unknown. Basically, little cherry disease is caused by three different agents: little cherry virus 1, little cherry virus 2, and Western X phytoplasma. In grower-sub- mitted samples to the CPCNW diagnostic testing laboratory, little cherry virus 2 was the most commonly detected pathogen followed by Western X phytoplasma. Eastwell has long been interested in identifying the insects responsible for spreading the little cherry disease patho- gens within and between orchards. While little cherry virus 1 has no known insect vector, little cherry virus 2 is known to be transmitted by apple mealybug. Eastwell and Villamor will also con- tinue their collaborative work on devel- oping a comprehensive management program for little cherry disease with Dr. Betsy Beers and her postdoctoral asso- ciate, Dr. Andrea Bixby-Brosi at WSU's Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center in Wenatchee. Eastwell's and Villamor's role in this project was to develop a user- friendly diagnostic kit for field personnel to use to detect trees infected by little cherry virus 2. As a result of their efforts, the original Agdia kit was redesigned and released this past October. They plan to develop similar kits for detection of little cherry virus 1 and Western X phytoplasma. • Holly Ferguson, Ph.D. is a writer based in Moxee, Washington. TJ MULLINAX/GOOD FRUIT GROWER Dr. Ken Eastwell has worked nearly 35 years in plant disease virology and is considered the global expert on little cherry disease.

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