André Bueno Gama

My program specializes in research on sugarcane diseases faced by the sugarcane industry in Louisiana. As the sugarcane pathologist, I thrive to study sugarcane diseases through applied and fundamental research in order to provide local growers with solutions to disease problems. My program works closely with sugarcane breeders, entomologists, extension agents, and other researchers via an interdisciplinary approach to help Louisiana sugarcane growers. 

My focus is to study the etiology, epidemiology, and impact on yield from sugarcane diseases. We currently focus on sugarcane red rot, sugarcane smut, Sugarcane Yellow Leaf Virus (ScYLV), sugarcane mosaic (SrMV), and ratoon stunt disease. Given the historic and economic importance of the sugarcane industry to Louisiana, we have the mission of providing solutions to growers in a timely manner and to constantly monitor for sugarcane disease outbreaks in Louisiana. 

PLHL 7083 - Epidemiology and Crop Loss Assessment, 3-hour lecture course.

This course introduces graduate students to basic concepts of interactions between pathogen and host populations and the environment, the description and prediction of disease increase in time and space, implications for disease management, and techniques to assess losses to plant diseases. This course also provides practical examples and encourages students to come up with solutions to real-world problems faced by growers applying the concepts they learn during this course.

Gama, A. B., Cordova, L. G., Baggio, J. S., Mertely, J. C., and Peres, N. A. 2023. Old but Gold: Captan fungicide is a valuable tool for Anthracnose and Botrytis Fruit Rots management based on a meta-analysis. Plant Dis. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-12-22-2781-RE. 

De Marchi, B. R., Gama, A. B., and Smith, H. 2023. Evidence of the association between the Q2 mitochondrial group of Bemisia tabaci MED species (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) and low competitive displacement capability. Plos One https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0280002.

Gasparoto, M. C. G., Gama, A. B., Wang, N-.Y., Rebello, C. S., Dewdney, M. M., and Peres, N. A. 2022. Colletotrichum abscissum: detection on symptomless citrus leaves and symptomatic citrus flowers using high-resolution melting analysis. Plant Pathol. https://doi.org/10.1111/ppa.13688. Gasparoto and Gama are shared first authors.

Baggio, J. S., Rebello, C. S., de Morais, M. B., Marin, M. V., Gama, A. B., Forcelini, B. B., Mertely, J. C., and Peres, N. A. 2022. Sensitivity and efficacy of single- and multi-site fungicides against Neopestalotiopsis spp. of strawberry. Plant Dis. 107: 2177-2184.

Gama, A. B., Perondi, D., Dewdney, M. M., Fraisse, C. W., Small, I. M., and Peres, N. A. 2022. Evaluation of a multi-model approach to estimate leaf wetness duration, an essential input for disease alert systems. Appl. Theoret. Climat. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-022-04036-1. 

Gama, A. B., Peres, N. A., Singerman, A., and Dewdney, M. M. 2022. Evaluation of disease alert systems for postbloom fruit drop of citrus in Florida and economic impact of adopting the Citrus Advisory System. Crop Protec. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cropro.2022.105906.

Wang, N. Y., Gama, A. B., Marin, M. V., and Peres, N. A. 2021. Development of a multiplex high-throughput diagnostic assay for the detection of strawberry crown rot diseases using high-resolution melting analysis. Phytopathology https://doi.org/10.1094/PHYTO-12-20-0556-R. 

Gama, A. B., Cordova, L. G., Rebello, C. S., and Peres, N. A. 2021. Validation of a decision-support system for blueberry anthracnose and fungicide sensitivity of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides isolates. Plant Dis. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-09-20-1961-RE. 

Perondi, D., Fraisse, C. W., Dewdney, M. M., Cerbaro, V. A., Andreis, J. H. D., Gama, A. B., Silva-Junior, G. J., Amorim, L., Pavan, W., Peres, N. A. 2020. Citrus advisory system: A web-based postbloom fruit drop disease alert system. Comput. Electron. Agric. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2020.105781. 

Gama, A. B., Baggio, J. S., Rebello, C. S., Lourenço, S. A., Gasparoto, M. C. G., Silva-Junior, G. J., Peres, N. A., and Amorim, L. 2020. Sensitivity of Colletotrichum acutatum isolates from citrus to carbendazim, difenoconazole, tebuconazole, and trifloxystrobin. Plant Dis. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-10-19-2195-RE. 

Gama, A. B., Silva-Junior, G. S., Peres, N. A., Edwards-Molina, J. P., Lima, L. M., and Amorim, L. 2019. A threshold-based decision-support system for fungicide applications provides cost-effective control of Citrus Postbloom Fruit Drop. Plant Dis. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-01-19-0068-RE.