Anton Baudoin

Associate Professor 417 Price Hall (0331) Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA 24061 Phone: (540) 231-5757 Fax: (540) 231-7477 E-Mail: abaudoin@vt.edu

Education| Teaching | Research

Education

• PhD, University of California, Riverside, 1980
• M.S., Wageningen University, The Netherlands, 1975

Teaching

Courses:

• Pest Management (pathology section), AT 0434, for agriculture technology.
• Plant Pathology, PPWS 3104
• Principles of Plant Disease Management, PPWS 5204
• Diseases of Crop Plants, PPWS 5214
• Plant Pathogenic Fungi (2004, 2006)
• Epidemiology of Plant Diseases (a section of PPWS 5404, taught separately as PPWS 6004)

Other links:

• Current or most recent semester's coursepages
• Recent teaching publications:
  • Baudoin, A., 2004. Plant Disease Notebook assignment offers students a way to customize a course. The Plant Health Instructor. DOI:10.1094/PHI-T-2004-0317-01
  • Baudoin, A.B.A.M. 2007. The Plant Disease Doughnut, a Simple Graphic to Explain what is Disease and what is a Pathogen. The Plant Health Instructor. DOI: 10.1094/PHI-T-2007-1221-01
• Editor-in-Chief, 2006-2008: Education Center of the American Phytopathological Society/The Plant Health Instructor

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Research

Current research centers on biology and control of fungal diseases of grapes, with emphasis on powdery and downy mildew, Botrytis bunch rot, black rot, and sour rot. Major areas:

1. Early detection of fungicide resistance - A survey of fungicide sensitivity of grape powdery and downy mildew is underway, with current focus on strobilurin and sterol inhibitor resistance.
   • Baudoin, A., Olaya, G., Delmotte, F., Colcol, J. F., and Sierotzki, H. 2008. QoI resistance of Plasmopara viticola and Erysiphe necator in the mid-Atlantic United States. Online. Plant Health Progress doi:10.1094/PHP-2008-0211-02-RS.
2. Early detection of fungicide resistance - In a 1990s survey of Botrytis cinerea in Virginia vineyards, two vineyards were found with high frequency (over 90%) of Botrytis strains with low-level resistance to iprodione (Rovral). Nevertheless, a field test in one of these vineyards showed fairly good efficacy of iprodione. Iprodione resistance was detected in several additional vineyards, but only at low frequencies. High-level benomyl (Benlate) resistance was found in 60% of Virginia Vineyards surveyed
   • Baudoin, A.B.A.M. 1994. Iprodione-resistant Botrytis cinerea in Virginia vineyards. Plant Disease 78: 102
3. Effects of crop oils on grapevines and powdery mildew eradication. Cooperative work with Dr. Tony Wolf has quantified the effects of oil applications on photosynthesis
   • Finger, S. A., Wolf, T. K. and Baudoin, A. 2002. Effects of horticultural oils on the photosynthesis, fruit maturity, and crop yield of wine grapes. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture 53: 116-124.
   • Baudoin, A., McDonald, S. F., and Wolf, T.K. 2006. Factors Affecting Reductions in Photosynthesis Caused by Horticultural Oil Application to Grapevine. HortScience 41: 346-351.
4. Determining effect of grape cluster "cleaning" (by blower, to dislodge cluster debris) on Botrytis bunch rot incidence and severity. Exploring feasibility and benefits of this practice for cultural control of bunch rot.
   • Wolf, T. K., Baudoin, A., and Martinez-Ochoa, N. 1997. Effect of floral debris removal from fruit clusters on Botrytis bunch rot of Chardonnay grapes. Vitis 36: 27-33

Further information on grape research at Virginia Tech on Doug Pfeiffer's grape pages

An additional area of research is the evaluation of weed pathogens for their potential for biological control of weeds.

This has included collection and evaluation of pathogens of morningglories, cocklebur, yellow nutsedge, johnsongrass, kudzu, poison ivy, milkweed, hemp dogbane, and others.

A detailed study was made of a smut disease (Ustilago syntherismae) which largely prevents seed production of infected crabgrass. ( Johnson, D. A. and Baudoin, A. B. A. M. 1997. Mode of infection and factors affecting disease incidence of loose smut of crabgrass. Biological Control 10: 92-97)

Also evaluated was a rust disease (Puccinia carduorum) of musk thistle (Carduus thoermeri). This rust was introduced into the USA for the purpose of biological control of the thistle. Completed studies include:

1. Field tests of the impact of the rust disease on the growth, development, and seed production of musk thistle as well as field tests to confirm the safety of the pathogen to non-target crops (artichoke) and native, endangered Cirsium species.
   • Baudoin, A. B. A. M., Abad, R. G., Kok, L. T., and Bruckart, W. L. 1993. Field evaluation of Puccinia carduorum for biological control of musk thistle. Biological Control 3: 53-60.
2. An examination of the population dynamics and spread of the pathogen. Since its introduction in Virginia in 1987, the pathogen by 1994 had spread spontaneously as far as central Missouri.
   • Baudoin, A. B. A. M. and Bruckart, W. L. 1996. Population dynamics and spread of Puccinia carduorum in the eastern United States. Plant Disease 80: 1193-1196.
3. Overview: Littlefield, J. L., W. L Bruckart, D. M. Woods, and A. B. A. M. Baudoin, 2004. Puccinia carduorum. Pages 363-365 in: Coombs, E. M., J. K. Clark, G. L. Piper, and A. F. Cofrancesco Jr., Biological Control of Invasive Plants in the United States. Western Society of Weed Science, Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, OR

Rose rosette disease distribution: Peck, A.R., Baudoin, A., Hansen, M.A., and Amrine, J.W. Jr. 2003. Recent spread of rose rosette disease in the southeastern United States. Phytopathology 93: S124 or search for it in the 2001 Potomac Division abstracts

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