11/5. A new syllabus has been posted. Just a reorganization for the remaining lectures of the semester. Also, next few lectures have been posted.

11/3. Whoops! I wrote last night that the lab teams will get either 5 or 10 extra credit points. Its actually 10 or 20 extra credit points. Lets get going!! Deadline is tonight!

11/2/. Here's the belated announcement regarding the Lab Report. Due tomorrow night, 11/3, by 11:59pm. Send to me via email. What I'm looking for is 1/5-2 page summary of the Koch's Postulate Lab. Each lab team should write one report so I don't get a report from everyone. Again, each report should have 2 student names on it, a couple will have 3. Format should be single spaced, 12 font, 1 inch margin all around. The content should be broken into 4 sections: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, and Discussion. Probably 1 or 2 paragraphs for each section. Introduction should include a brief intro to Koch's Postulates and post-harvest disease of fruit and vegetables (and grains, nuts, and other ag products). The M&M section should be a brief summary of what you did in the lab. The Results section should be a brief summary of what you saw in the first lab and what you saw in the second lab, and of course what you saw on your inoculated fruits/vegetable, as well as other students results. And then in the Discussion section talk about if the experiment a success or failure, how the experiment might be improved if you were to run it again, and what you learned. If you have references, put them at the end. If you have figures or pictures, put them in the results section.

If the report has all these sections and is fairly complete, all members of the lab team will get 10 extra credit points. If it appears as though not much effort was put into it, the lab partners will each get 5 extra credit points. And questions?? Bring them up in class tomorrow or email me tonight.

10/23. Ok, everyone, I've posted a practice exam on the class website. Good luck!! And remember, there is a study session with Joe the Incredible on Monday from 6-8 pm in the basement of the science library. Please take advantage of this opportunity. If not for yourself, then for Joe who needs the practice while he is studying for his preliminary oral exam for his PhD dissertation.

And regarding the lab report. Each team's report is worth 20 pts. If you turn in a barebones report but attended the lab you and your lab mate will each get 10 pts. If you turn in a nice report, you and your lab mate will each get 20 points. What constitutes a nice report?? Well, it should have 4 sections. Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, and Discussion. Each section should be 1-2 paragraphs, so the whole report should be about 1.5-2 pages. (Remember.....a paragraph is NEVER one sentence.....unless you're writing a newspaper article). Basically, write an introduction to Koch's postulates and postharvest diseases. Then write about what you did and the techniques you used. Then write about what results you obtained. In the Results section if you have any drawings from your lab observations you can scan them and insert them into the document. Then write a paragraph or so discussing what your results meant, what you learned, how you would do things different in the future, etc. Use 12 font, single space, and 1 inch margins around the whole page. Don't deviate from this logistic format! The reports will be due by 11:59 pm on 11/3 (Election Day!!!....how appropriate).

10/20. Ok, here's the list of 5 plant diseases I would like you all to know well enough that you could draw them on a test. And I suggest you practice them at home to insure you have it right.

Powdery mildew of rose, stem rust of wheat, cedar-apple rust, brown rot of stone fruit, and ergot of rye.

On the test, I will ask you to draw one of two options I will give you. At the lab on Thursday I'll show you some examples of drawings students have done in the past.

10/12. Just a quick reminder. Tomorrow we have our Campus Disease Tours. As with the labs, the tours will be split into two sections, 11:00-12:30 and 12:30-2:00. And actually we'll finish a few minutes early. Please attend one of the tours (a walk around central campus looking at plant disease) and please attend the same time section you attended for the labs. This way we'll split up the group into manageable sections. Meet in front of Marley 230. See you tomorrow!

10/5. Well, Joe tells me that all your isolations are successful, at least you got something!!! Now is time to subculture and get your putative pathogens in pure culture. If your isolation produced one putative pathogen, transfer it over to a clean plate. If your isolates produced 2, 3 or more putative pathogens, transfer each of them over to clean plates. Remember, you are subculturing to get a pure culture. Only one fungus/bacterium per Petri dish!!! If you originally isolated on APDA, transfer over to APDA. If you originally isolated on another medium, transfer over to that medium.

To do the subculturing, go up to my lab and see if Joe is around (usually between 8-5 on most week days). Joe will help you transfer you cultures aspectically to a clean plate. If Joe is not around, check with one of the other graduate students (Kobi, Monica, Daniel, or Chad). If you tell them what you need to do, all of them can help you out. Remember, you are subculturing your Koch's Postulates pathogens to obtain pure culture. If you tell them that, they will be able to help you.

Regarding the lab report, don't worry too much because it won't be do till another 2-3 weeks. The important thing to remember is to take good notes regarding signs and symptoms, record your hosts and the medium you are trying to isolate the pathogens on, and record all the steps you are taking to complete Koch's postulates. The report is worth 10 points and needs to have all your lab mate's names on it (so everyone can get credit). I'll talk more about the report tomorrow in class.

Remember, Joe say's your plates are ready!!!!!!! Have one of your lab mate go over and transfer your cultures!!!! And take good notes!!!!! Have fun.

9/30. Tomorrow is lab day!! Remember, the lab will be held in Marley 217 rather than 212/218 (the east side of the building rather than the west side). Please download the Koch's Postulate Lab handout from the class website and read it before coming to the lab (also bring it to the lab).. Also, for those who haven't signed up for a lab section (and I have emailed you!!) please email me back to let me know which section you'll be coming to. The early section is preferred. See you tomorrow!

9/28. I also updated the syllabus....ver. 4.0. Please note that there is an online lesson that will need to be reviewed on you own before the 2nd midterm exam.

9/28. Well, it looks like we got bumped regarding lab space for the Koch's Postulates lab on Tues. The powers that be would not adjust the schedule for our rescheduled lab. Therefore, we will have to hold the lab on our regularly scheduled day of Thursday this week. So for Tuesday, come to lecture at the regular time. We will have our 1st lab the following Thursday, 10/1. Sorry for the juggling. I'll post signs on the doors for those who don't get this message.

9/18. I just posted the practice exam. The test on Tuesday will be a little different in that it won't have any "matching the disease with the pathogen" type of problems. Enjoy! and study hard!!

9/18. Also, since we haven't jumped into fungi or specific diseases yet (in contrast to other years), I won't have any questions on the test about apple scab, so you don't have to review the online lesson on the APS website. We'll save it for the next test.

9/18. I just posted the lecture notes and the presentation from the last lecture. Remember, for the midterm on Tues we will only cover the parts of Chapter 11 that I covered in lecture. Basically just the introduction to fungi. The information specific to Ascomycetes will begin after the exam.

I'm still working on the practice test. Should have it posted very soon (tonight I hope). And remember, Joe is holding a study session on Monday from 6-8pm in the basement of the Science Library. A great place to get some questions answered! Good luck studying!!

9/8. Check for the new syllabus! Ver. 3.0. Main changes are the date of the first midterm and an organization of some of the later lectures. There will be a practice midterm posted on the website at the end of next week. Something you can work on as you prepare for the exam. Joe will also hold a study session next week as well. You can discuss with Joe on Tues when he lectures or on Thursday when I return. Remember, no class this Thursday.

9/1. First announcement!! Look for a new version of the syllabus. I've rearranged the lectures a bit.....something different for this year.

8/25. Welcome to PLP 305!!!! This is the place where you will go to get the latest in class announcements and updates to course material. On this page I'll keep a running log of all announcements pertaining to the class so if you miss something that was announced previously it won't get erased.....it will just get added to. Tune in frequently, particularly if you think something important has been announced. I'll try to announce when I've posted something, but there's times I slip. So just in case, open this page ever few days just to make sure you stay up to date. I guarantee this will be a very interesting, engaging class, but also fact-filled at times, so keep up to date on all the readings and the course material. And very importantly, come see me if you think things are moving too fast or if you are having a tough time absorbing things. There are ways to study and retain info and if you come by to talk I can give you a few tips that might be able to help you along. Most importantly, I believe Plant Pathology is incredibly relevant and will have applications and impacts in many of your other studies and in your life. So welcome again!! Have fun and learn!

8/25. The course website is http://ag.arizona.edu/plp/courses/plp305/. For access to lectures and presentations, the user name is plp305, and the password is pathogen (all lower case). Let me know if there are any problems with the links.