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Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a devastating disease of wheat in Canada and disease surveillance is a critical component of integrated disease management, disease forecasting, prioritizing research and breeding efforts, grain handling, and cleaning post harvest. We report on the recent trends of FHB in Canadian wheat including incidence and severity from 1995 to 2021 based on data from 208,247 samples. Our results show a steady increase in FHB incidence from 1995, with an epidemic year in 2016, followed by several years of low incidence. Results also indicated that FHB severity has been stable over time, but not always correlated with incidence. Data from the analysis of 26,538 samples from 2018 to 2021 demonstrate a strong positive correlation between the number of Fusarium damaged kernels (severity) and concentrations of the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol. Together, our results provide the most robust survey of FHB in Canada to date, which complement national and international disease monitoring and management efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field surveys indicate blackleg of canola has increased in western Canada since 2010. Earlier studies showed changes in the pathogen (Leptosphaeria maculans (Sowerby) P.Karst.; Lm) population between 2007 and 2010–2011. In this study, Lm isolates were collected from trap plots (591) and/or commercial fields (372) on the prairies between 2012 and 2014, and tested for the profile of avirulence (Av) genes on a set of host differentials for 10 Lm Av alleles. Up to 35 'Westar' trap plots were set up each year, and commercial fields were surveyed in the same area in 2012 and 2013. A similar trend was observed for Av profile between the two Lm populations; Av1, Av3, Av9 and AvLep2 were at low or very low levels, while Av2, Av4, Av6 and Av7 were present in >60% of the isolates. A total of 82 races were identified in these Lm populations, suggesting a greater diversity than those reported elsewhere. Margalef and Simpson indices also confirmed the greater genetic diversity in Lm. In fact, for each known R gene, there is at least one virulent race already existing in the Lm population. The races carrying Av2, Av4, Av6 or Av7 accounted for >70% of the Lm population, indicating that an R gene corresponding to any of these Av alleles may be effective against blackleg on the prairies. However, Av results alone appeared insufficient for explaining different levels of blackleg observed in canola fields; additional factors, possibly including crop rotation and local weather, may also play a role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The barley pathogensUstilago nuda,U. nigraandU. hordeiare seed-borne fungi likely introduced to western Canada on host seed by early European settlers. They initially caused large losses in barley crops, but the development of effective control practices has lessened their impact in western Canada. Monitoring of the incidence and severity of these pathogens in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and to a lesser extent, Alberta has occurred annually from 1972 to 2009. The mean annual percentage of fields with plants expressing loose smut [U. nuda] was 47% and surface-borne smut [U. nigraand/orU. hordei] was 24%. The average percentage of fields in which plants infected withU. nudaandU. nigraand/orU. hordeiwere found was 11%. There did not appear to be a relationship in incidence between loose smut-infected plants and surface-borne smut-infected plants. The mean annual percentage of plants per field infected withU. nudawas 0.6%, and withU. nigraand/orU. hordeiwas 1%. In general, the incidence and severity of these pathogens was greater in an area extending from south central Manitoba, through the northern crop districts of Saskatchewan and Alberta. The incidence of loose smut was greatest during the 1980s and 1990s, but has declined since then, while the incidence of surface-borne smut was greatest in the 1970s, followed by a steady decline in incidence until 1999, after which plants expressing surface-borne smut symptoms were uncommon in western Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study, the first published overview of aging in a nationally representative sample of First Nations seniors, used data from the First Nations Regional Health Survey Phase 2 (FNRHS 2). It is also the first application of a validated frailty index to describe aging experiences in First Nations communities. Responding to the survey were 11,043 First Nations adults. Of the 1,820 First Nations seniors who responded, 52.7 per cent (95% CI [49.4-56.1]) were not frail. The maintenance of non-frail status in First Nations adults appeared to decrease in each middle-adult age group (from 87.9% in ages 35-44 through to 63.1% in ages 55-64) and to plateau after age 65. The findings are a key step in documenting the experiences of First Nations seniors nationally from a First Nations perspective. They also highlight the key need for supportive health services and chronic disease management at younger ages.