Dr HüberliAdjunct Senior Lecturer/ Research Officer at Department of Agriculture and Food
Dr Hüberli
Adjunct Senior Lecturer/ Research Officer at Department of Agriculture and Food
Centre for Phytophthora Science and Management.
School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology,
Murdoch University,
Western Australia, 6150
Department of Agriculture and Food.
Plant Pathology,
South Perth,
Western Australia, 6151
Phone: (61-8) 9368 3622
Fax: (61-8) 9368 2958
Email: D.Huberli@murdoch.edu.au
I am actively involved in promoting plant pathology on the media, on the worldwide web and to the students who will carry it into the future. Since 2007 I have been on the Australasian Plant Pathology Society committee where as a team we have actively promoted research by our emerging scientists. I am a voluntary editor for plant pathology websites at dmoz.org where I am responsible finding new websites and adding site descriptions All websites will ultimately be listed on such search engines as GOOGLE! If you have any exciting websites that are not listed, please send them my way.
Additionally, I am involved in creating and maintaining the IUFRO Phytophthora in Forests 2010 meeting website, as well as previous meeting websites in 2001 and 2007.
Qualifications:
Research Interests:
Phytophthora species present a worldwide problem both in industry and natural ecosystems. I have been involved in research in both environments in western USA (California) and Western Australia. In particular, I have been involved in research projects that provide understanding of the pathogen' s biology and pathogenicity. The hosts' response under varying environmental conditions and degree of susceptibility within a species population has also been a theme in my projects. I count my Berkeley years as a real-lesson-in-life on the devastation that new introductions of invasive Phytophthora species have on native ecosystems and horticulture. As such, I am, involved in research projects that keep Australia’s native ecosystems and private gardens free from new destructive Phytophthora species.
Current Projects:
Susceptibility of Australian plant species to Phytophthora ramorum
There are many Australian plant industries and ecosystems where climatic conditions are similar to that found in the USA and Europe which support P. ramorum disease development. If introduced into Australia, it has the potential to have a large impact on the nursery, horticulture and forest industries, and become a major ecological threat in areas with susceptible hosts and conducive climates. The outcomes of this project will be directly relevant to the Australian Plant Biosecurity industry as the information obtained will allow Australian regulators to develop appropriate quarantine protocols for nursery trade and determine the risk posed by the pathogen to the nursery and horticultural industries and to some extent the forest industries, and natural ecosystems.
Funding source of project/s: Department of the Environment and HeritageImproved in-furrow chemical options for control of foliar and soil fungi and nematodes in broad acre crops
In-furrow and seed treatments are used widely in agriculture to control several soil-borne and foliar diseases that restrict crop development. This practice reduces early season infection levels and may reduce the inoculum pressure later in the season and thus, minimise the need for foliar fungicide applications. This study will widen application of current active ingredients and investigate new actives, host crops and target pathogens as well as provide alternative delivery methods.
Funding source of project/s: Grains Research and Development Corporation
Students Supervision
Prior Professional Experience:
Until late January 2009, I was a postdoctoral researcher at CPSM working on various projects. These included:
1) Fishing for Phytophthora
One of the easiest ways to check if Phytophthora species are present in an area where plants are not dead is to check water bodies such as lakes, dams, rivers and streams for their presence. Monitoring of water bodies has been used as an early-detection tool for several Phytophthora species, with the best example being P. ramorum, which moves readily in streams. Streams and rivers are continuously monitored in California and Oregon by placing leaves into bags to ‘fish’ for P. ramorum. Using these methods, P. ramorum can be detected in new areas where the disease cannot yet be visually observed in the forest. The source of the pathogen in the water can then be traced back to the infected plants, and where feasible, an eradication or quarantine effort established to prevent the further spread in the landscape. In conjunction with community groups and individuals, over 50 water bodies across Western Australia were sampled to catalogue the species of Phytophthora currently present to aid in the identification of new species, and to establish a simple surveillance program to monitor water bodies of Western Australia for new infestations of exotic species of Phytophthora.For more information related to this project, visit the Fishing for Phytophthora website:
http://www.fishingforphytophthora.murdoch.edu.au/2) Does the physiological status of the plant at the time of spraying affect the efficacy of phosphite?
A major factor limiting the understanding of the control of the Phytophthora cinnamomi is the lack of knowledge on how the physiological status of native Western Australian plants at the time of application of phosphate affects the efficacy of phosphite to control disease. This project explores the key seasonal stresses of waterlogging, drought and fire.From February 2002 to August 2006, I was working as a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Matteo Garbelotto at the University of California, Berkeley, U.S. Some of my key research projects were:
- Pathogenicity and morphological variation of Phytophthora ramorum isolates from California;
- Susceptibility of Quercus agrifolia and Umbellularia californica populations to P. ramorum;
- Identification of natural hosts of P. ramorum;
- Development and supervision of other projects such as the susceptibility of native New Zealand plants to P. ramorum and Rhododendron species; and
- Effect of smoke exposure on infections by P. ramorum on U. californica leaves
For more information related to these projects, please visit:
http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/garbelotto/
Publications:
Click here for a comprehensive list of publications (pdf format).
Some publications can also be viewed on the Murdoch University Publications Repository.