Virginia State University Research Articles

Optimizing faba bean cultivation: assessing varietal performance in spring and fall

The need to identify specialty crops in Virginia has driven interest in faba beans (Vicia faba L.), which offer potential benefits for crop rotation systems. As a cool-season crop, faba beans can be planted in both fall and spring, providing flexibility in farming schedules. A field study was conducted at Randolph Farm, the Virginia State University Research and Extension Farm, using a completely randomized factorial block design. This study examines the performance of seven faba bean varieties—Ethiopia, NEB247, Aprovecho, EN3, EN47, Windsor and EN45—across three spring (late February, late March and mid April), and three fall (late September, early October and late October) planting dates. Our results demonstrate that both variety and planting date significantly influence the yield and yield components of faba beans. Among the varieties tested, Windsor and EN47 exhibited superior traits across multiple categories, making them preferable for achieving high yields. Conversely, varieties such as EN45, Aprovecho, and NEB247 showed poor performance. Fall planting dates generally resulted in superior growth, yield, and maturity characteristics, underscoring their importance for maximizing faba bean production. We observed that faba beans planted in the fall had 58% more branches, 100% more shoot dry matter, 34% higher 100-seed weight, double the grain yields, and 8% higher harvest index compared to those planted in the spring. To further enhance faba bean production, additional studies are suggested to clarify the physiological relationships between photosynthesis rates and the sink-source dynamics. Furthermore, investigating how planting dates impact the nutrient components of faba beans will provide deeper insights into optimizing their cultivation.

Effect of Harvest Management on Biomass Yield, Forage Quality, and Nutrient Removal by Bioenergy Grasses in Mid-Central Virginia

The increasing cost of fossil-based energy sources has driven research in bio-based alternatives, such as perennial grasses for feedstock. The mid-Atlantic receives appreciable summer rainfall that may support a two-cut-per-year−1 harvest. At Virginia State University, a study on annual forage sorghum and two one-year stand perennials, miscanthus, and selected switchgrass ecotypes was carried out. The experimental design was a split-plot with harvest systems and feedstock grass species randomly assigned to the main and sub-plots, respectively. Only perennial grasses were assigned to the two-cut-per-year−1 system. The first cut occurred in early summer, and the second and single cut occurred after the frost-kill. Under the two-cut system, in 2022, the first-cut dry matter (DM) yield ranged from 8.9 Mg ha−1 in Blackwell to 14.7 Mg ha−1 in BoMaster. Additionally, except for BoMaster, the regrowth DM yields were within 10% of the first-cut DM yield. Under the one-cut system, the yield ranged from 10.8 Mg ha−1 in Blackwell to 23.2 Mg ha−1 in sorghum. Under the two-cut system, in 2023, miscanthus produced the greatest first-cut DM yield of 18.4 Mg ha−1, while other perennials averaged 10.1 Mg ha−1. Compared to the first cut, the hot and dry summer significantly reduced regrowth for all feedstock species, with the miscanthus DM yield dropping by 64%. While forage attributes differ among feedstock species, in general, both the first cut and regrowth showed greater crude protein and mineral elements, as well as lower ADF contents compared to a single cut following a killing freeze. Sorghum had better forage quality for the one-cut-per-year−1 feedstock material, and, along with the first cut and regrowth, it may have the potential for use as forage for maintenance energy in animal systems. For perennials, the two-cut-per-year−1 system removed the greatest quantities of nutrients during both years, with the first-cut harvest contributing about 65% of all removed N and K. Sorghum removed the greatest quantities of nutrients compared to the perennial under a one-cut-per-year−1 system. Therefore, while a two-cut-per-year−1 system can result in the greatest DM yields for dual-purpose use, its adoption calls for a critical analysis of economic benefits that considers feedstock bioenergy processing approaches, stand persistence, and fertilizer management strategies to address potential soil fertility depletion due to mineral element mining.

Characterization of White Lupin Seed Coats

White lupin (Lupinus albus L.), a winter legume crop with tremendous potential as a food crop, has been evaluated at Virginia State University for several years. This effort has developed several winter-hardy, high-yielding lines, which vary in alkaloid concentration in the seeds. Current study was conducted to characterize various component of lupin seed especially seed coat and cotyledon portion in seeds of five lupin lines (VSU-1, VSU-1X, VSU-5, VSU-10, and VSU-101). Five hundred seeds of each line were separated into seed coats and cotyledons to record relative proportions. Whole seeds, seed coats, and cotyledons were analyzed to determine concentrations of protein, fiber, fat, iron and zinc. Significant differences were observed among five lines for seed coat proportion, which varied from 22.6 to 25.6 percent. Proportions of protein (7.8, 41.6, and 34.3 percent), fiber (44.7, 1.0, and 12.2 percent), fat (1.3, 10.4, and 8.6 percent), and zinc (14.5, 61.9, and 50.8 percent) concentrations varied significantly for seed coats, cotyledons, and whole seed, respectively but not for iron concentration. Results of this study indicate that separation of seed coats from white lupin seed could be used to develop value-added products; to increase nutritional quality of white lupin seeds; and enhance white lupin’s suitability as a plant protein source.

Compensatory Structural Growth Responses of Early-Succession Native Warm-Season Grass Stands to Defoliation Management

There is a growing recognition of the significance of unique morphological and physiological adaptation of native warm-season grasses (NWSG) of North America as summer forage resources and major grassland ecosystem components. Defoliation management plays a major role in ensuring eco-friendly utilization of grassland natural resources. To assess sward structural responses of big bluestem (BB, Andropogon gerardii Vitman), eastern gamagrass (GG, Tripsacum dactyloides L.), indiangrass (IG, Sorghastrum nutans L. Nash), and switchgrass (SG, Panicum virgatum L.) stands to seasonal changes in harvest regimes, a five-year forage harvesting trial was conducted, in a randomized complete block design, at Virginia State University’s research farm. Vegetation structural response attributes (sward-height, canopy closure, stand density and basal cover) of newly established the NWSG stands to second year changes in harvest regimes were monitored. In 2013, 64 plots of year-old stands of transplanted BB, GG, IG, and SG separated by ≥120-cm alleys were cut once in early-August and mid-November to suppress weeds and promote tillering. Starting June 2014, each plot had three 1.5-m wide side-by-side harvest-strips cut once-, twice-, or thrice year−1 (frequencies) ending mid-Oct for four consecutive years followed by a single mid-summer harvest in 26 June 2018, using a forage plot-harvester. In 2015, harvest frequencies for the three- and single-cut strips, in plots 32–64, were switched/flipped once and never reverted. Data was recorded on four early-summer and late-fall sward heights, from each strip at 60-cm intervals before the first and the last harvest, each year. early-spring basal- and canopy-diameter, for mid-April 2015 and 2016, concurrent early-spring canopy light interception, using the LI-191 Line Quantum Sensor, and season-end visual obstruction heights, for stand density in 2016 and 2017. All regrowth sward-heights showed effects of harvest frequency and exhibited compensatory structural responses to the change in harvest regimes. Basal and canopy diameters tended to be greater for the single-cut strips that were previously cut thrice.

86 A summer research experience to encourage URM students’ participation in health sciences research

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: To increase the diversity of the health sciences research workforce, students from a variety of backgrounds must have the opportunity to participate in hands-on research experiences that highlight translating science to treating human disease. We developed a mentored translational research program for students from VCU and central Virginia HBCUs. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: The Wright Regional Center for Clinical and Translational Science collaborated with the existing VCU Honors’ Summer Undergraduate Research Program (HSURP) to expand their summer research experience to URM students from our partner HBCUs. For 10 weeks, students worked with faculty mentors to learn research techniques and engage in research projects. Students also participated in career development sessions like developing a CV and choosing graduate programs, and at the end of HSURP, they shared formal presentations of their research with peers and mentors. HSURP students were provided housing and a stipend, and mentors were provided a stipend. A post-program assessment gathered feedback on research and personal skills gained, the program’s influence on their career goals, and overall experiences with HSURP. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Nine students, 7 from VCU and 2 from Virginia State University participated in HSURP. Students were rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors, and 5 had previous research experience. Students worked on projects ranging from basic to social behavioral, community-placed research. All students rated the program as good or excellent. Post-program assessments showed all students believed they had a better understanding of ethical responsibilities of researchers, relevance of community-engaged and clinical/translational research, and interpreting journal articles after participating in the program. Four students reported they plan to continue working on their research projects during the academic year, and all students strongly agreed or agreed that HSURP prepared them for graduate or professional schools. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: A program that combines hands-on research training and career development opportunities provides a robust research foundation for URM students, which can increase their participation in the translational science workforce. Future program development will include preprogram training modules to better prepare students for research experiences.

Surviving Ineffective Leadership with Remarkable Lessons

Journal of Leadership StudiesEarly View Symposium Surviving Ineffective Leadership with Remarkable Lessons Sharon Lassiter, Corresponding Author Sharon Lassiter slassiter@vsu.edu Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA, USACorrespondence: Sharon Lassiter, Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA, USA. E-mail: slassiter@vsu.eduSearch for more papers by this author Sharon Lassiter, Corresponding Author Sharon Lassiter slassiter@vsu.edu Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA, USACorrespondence: Sharon Lassiter, Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA, USA. E-mail: slassiter@vsu.eduSearch for more papers by this author First published: 16 March 2023 https://doi.org/10.1002/jls.21834Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Early ViewOnline Version of Record before inclusion in an issue RelatedInformation

Compensatory Yield Responses of Young Native Warm-Season Grass Stands to Seasonal Changes in Harvest Frequencies

Defoliation management can significantly affect subsequent grassland’s forage productivity and sustainability. To assess the type and persistence of native warm-season grass (NWSG) yield responses to changes in defoliation intensity, a five-year harvest trial was conducted, in a randomized complete block design, at Virginia State University’s research farm. Yield responses of newly established indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans L.). Nash, big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and eastern gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides L.) stands to second-year changes in harvest regimes were monitored. In 2012, seedlings of these native grasses were transplanted in clean-tilled plots, with 16 plants in each pot. The field was not irrigated, but broadleaf weeds were manually controlled, and all plots were mowed in August and mid-November of 2013. Starting June 2014, each plot had three harvest-strips assigned to single, two, or three cuts per year from early June to mid-October using a plot-harvester; forage weights were recorded. Based on the recorded fresh and oven-dry sample weights, plot forage DM yields were estimated. Cumulative forage biomass of all three-cut strips flipped to single-cut increased by ≥30% and >50% for big bluestem. The second-year single-cut yields also outperformed those cut thrice since the first year by 22–51%. The second-year biomass increases from single-cut strips that were cut thrice in the first year demonstrated that flipping-triggered compensatory yield responses overshadowed the first- year losses in plant vigor. The compensatory yield increases continued to, but not beyond, the third year and varied between species. The yield responses also showed that magnitudes of defoliation management–triggered NWSG growth responses depend more on growing conditions during the recovery period than its actual duration.

The Influence of D. Antoinette Handy—Musician, Scholar, Administrator, Visionary—on the Expansion of Music Education in Richmond, Virginia

American flutist D. Antoinette Handy’s multifaceted career encompassed the roles of music educator, scholar, and arts administrator, as well as soloist and bandleader. Born in New Orleans in 1930 and educated at the New England Conservatory, Northwestern, and the Paris Conservatoire, Handy settled in the Richmond, Virginia, area in 1966 to begin an expansive new phase of her career. She taught at Virginia State College, performed with the Richmond Symphony, was music critic for the Richmond Afro-American, published three books, and hosted two public radio programs including Black Virginia, which featured female jazz masters and discussed the state of jazz education in Richmond at the dawn of its 1980s “renaissance.” Handy was Richmond Public Schools’ first artist-in-residence and brought Eileen Southern, Mary Lou Williams, and Terri Lyne Carrington to lead workshops for the students and their teachers. Through an examination of primary and secondary sources including new oral history interviews, this article examines Handy’s manifold contributions to music education in and around Richmond, with a focus on how she helped construct a more inclusive and interconnected music scene.

Baldwin Boxed in at Virginia State Symposium

This review of the James Baldwin symposium at Virginia State University weighs the insights presented by a number of Black and white scholars, only a few of whom might be considered deeply informed about his life and legacy. Even so, the emerging thinkers provide a wealth of new and interesting perspectives on Baldwin, and the event was highlighted by Molefi Kete Asante’s critical lecture. His comments are a veritable call to arms, an invitation to Baldwin devotees to contend with his conclusions, a process which this article will begin.

New Perspectives on William Demby: A Special Issue of African American Review

New Perspectives on William Demby:A Special Issue of African American Review Melanie Masterton Sherazi (bio), Ugo Rubeo (bio), and James C. Hall (bio) Introduction Following his service in Italy during World War II, William Demby (b. 1922) returned to live in Rome in 1947. Inspired by Giorgio de Chirico's paintings that he viewed often at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum in his youth and by Roberto Rossellini's films, Demby considered a move to Rome as the "gritt[ier]," less obvious choice than Paris for an artist.1 Rents were cheap in a city rebuilding itself from the rubble of fascism and war and a revolutionary antifascist current flowed through the artistic circles into which Demby landed, rather serendipitously, upon his postwar return. He was invited almost immediately to live in a flat on Via San Teodoro overlooking the Ancient Forum with a group of Italian leftist and Communist artists and filmmakers, including Renzo Vespignani and Marcello Muccini. There, he got back to work on his debut novel in progress, Beetlecreek, and was driven to complete it as an artist living among other serious artists. From his bohemian flat across from Rome's ancient ruins, Demby took a writing sojourn in the Palazzo Ca' Dario, an elegant, late fifteenth-century residence on Venice's Grand Canal, where Peggy Guggenheim was living just a few doors down.2 Of his first novel's extraordinary composition history, Demby himself acknowledged that some positive astral conjunction might have worked in his favor, recalling that "it all came together in a palace in Venice; and the first thing I know is that I had finished a novel" (qtd. in Micconi 131). Beetlecreek was, in fact, a novel several years in the making: Demby had work-shopped it before the war as Margaret Walker's student at West Virginia State College, then an HBCU.3 He continued drafting it during his service in Italy and while completing his studies at Fisk University under the mentorship of Robert Hayden.4 The spectacular Italian settings of Beetlecreek's composition are at odds with the novel's eponymous, fictional town in the segregated, Depression-era US South. Moreover, Demby's own mobilities signal the dizzying quality of his lived experiences in this period: a move with his family after high school from an integrated neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Clarksburg, West Virginia; his later wartime service in Italy in an African American troop; his settling into a flat overlooking the ruins of Ancient Rome; and his aforementioned retreat in a Venetian palace on the Grand Canal—all in the span of just a few years.5 In these ways and more, Demby's life and work resisted the entrenched racist norms of Jim Crow America. This special issue of African American Review appears in the centenary year of Demby's birth on Christmas Day in 1922. Although he was honored with an Anisfield-Wolf Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006, Demby's body of work has struggled to gain a lasting foothold in the African American literary canon and in classrooms, perhaps for the very fact of his living off the radar for decades in Italy. In actuality, Demby often traveled between Italy and the United States while working and visiting family. The issue aims to energize new directions in the study of the overdetermined workings of literary reputation and of place, genre, and style in [End Page 111] the shaping of an African American canon. Presented largely in chronology with Demby's artistic career, which spanned over sixty years, the issue's essays celebrate and contend with his work's generative eclecticism and transnational orientations. Italian Contexts Just a few months after Beetlecreek's appearance in 1950, another fortuitous event happened to propel Demby's early career when the major Italian press Mondadori's "Medusa" series—widely acclaimed, and dedicated to the works of "Great Narrators of All Countries"—published Festa a Beetlecreek as Series No. 243 in its signature emerald-green hardcover. Demby's novel's translator, Fernanda Pivano, was a young intellectual from Turin who, though not an academic, was already on her way to becoming one of Italy's leading Americanists...

The Black Athlete in West Virginia: High School and College Sports from 1900 through the End of Segregation

As of 2021, West Virginia's two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Bluefield State and West Virginia State, are the only two in the country that have a majority white student body. Both compete today in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports and receive much less funding than the state's largest public colleges, Marshall University and West Virginia University. Despite such demographic and financial changes in the past fifty years of West Virginia higher education, there is a rich history of African American colleges and high schools in the state, and this is especially true for African American athletic achievement. For example, the Pittsburgh Courier voted Bluefield State in 1927 and 1928 and West Virginia State in 1936 as Black-college national co-champions in football, yet neither college enjoyed much athletic-program success following desegregation. The story of how these two colleges changed from national African American football powerhouses to majority-white universities is but one analyzed within The Black Athlete in West Virginia, but it is perhaps the central, most critical theme.In what is the work's strongest chapter, the authors trace how Bluefield State and West Virginia State became the first HBCUs in the United States to join a white-colleges-only athletic conference, in their case, the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC). Both university presidents were strong believers in desegregation, and both initiated the process of joining WVIAC themselves within months of the Brown v. Board ruling. Within about six months, WVIAC college presidents met and approved both schools’ applications to join. Just like that, a West Virginia collegiate sport league was integrated, a relatively direct process that contrasts with the turmoil-filled integration stories present in chapters on Marshall and West Virginia University. But like so many civil rights stories, this simple narrative was not so cut and dry.Joining the WVIAC was celebrated among most in the two colleges, but some felt African American academic leadership betrayed Black athletes and that WVIAC membership was a step backward. First, the best African American teams from West Virginia colleges had a chance of being recognized as the national Black-college champion. This honor, typically determined by the votes of Black newspapers, was forfeited with WVIAC membership. Next, while desegregation was recognized by an overwhelming majority as a social good, the growing number of white students at each HBCU—especially Bluefield State—led to social conflict within a decade of joining the WVIAC. “While other campuses erupted in protests over the Vietnam War,” the authors write, “Bluefield's black students protested what they believed was a move by the state of West Virginia to make Bluefield State a white college and to erase its cultural heritage as a historically black college” (150). A bomb planted by an unknown perpetrator exploded in the campus physical education building in 1968. In response, the university closed its dormitories, effectively making the college a white commuter college (the surrounding county population was just 7 percent African American). Throughout all this, Bluefield State maintained a strong basketball culture largely comprised of out-of-state African American players, and social division grew.The only shortcoming in this well-researched book is that its title is a misnomer. It would have been better named “The Black Basketball and Football College Athlete in West Virginia.” Of the book's ten chapters, four are exclusively about basketball, and another four are more generally about school integration, with basketball and football serving as major cultural landmarks. Women's sports, high school sports, and other men's collegiate sports do receive an occasional mention, such as future US Olympic wrestler Bobby Douglas, but more of these examples would have provided greater depth. For instance, famed African American sportswriter Wendell Smith played baseball at West Virginia State College. Smith claimed that a white Major League scout told him that he would never be signed to a lucrative contract due to professional baseball's color barrier, at which point Smith promised himself to fight for baseball integration. He would go on to be a pivotal character in Jackie Robinson's story, which began for Smith on a baseball diamond just outside Charleston, West Virginia. Regardless, this is a strong contribution to sport history, to the history of school desegregation, and to West Virginia history. Anyone with interest in any of these topics should consider this work a top priority.

59 Producer Certification in Mobile Processing: Mitigating Lack of Access to Sheep and Goat Processing in Virginia

Abstract To market sheep and goat meat products directly to consumers, producers need to have access to a state/federally inspected facility allowing for the resale of meat. Producers in central, southern and eastern Virginia have limited access to these facilities, experience scheduling delays, and require long transport to harvest animals at available facilities. Successful funding by a USDA grant allowed Virginia State University to design and build a mobile processing unit (MPU) to enhance marketing opportunities for Virginia’s small ruminant producers. To assist in developing a model for MPU launch, a survey of small ruminant producer’s current processing needs and the perceived use and benefits of the MPU was conducted. A link to the online survey (Qualtrics) was emailed to all Virginia Cooperative Extension agents for distribution to their small ruminant clientele and left open for responses for 2 weeks. There were 110 responses; majority were sheep producers (54%) and most respondents had 25 or less breeding females (59%). Thirty-four percent currently marketed meat products directly to consumers and 60% utilized state or federally inspected facilities in the state. Most respondents (43%) processed only 5 animals/year with processing mostly in September - November (46%). A high number of respondents (76%) had experienced scheduling delays in processing over the last year and almost all (94%) indicated the urgent need for additional processing facilities or access to a MPU in their county. Additionally, 65% were willing to learn to harvest and process their own sheep and goats if they could have access to a state/federal inspected MPU. Due to these responses, a MPU Certification Program was launched with the model of training producers to be their own butchers and leasing them the MPU to harvest under custom, state, or federal inspection. The program has 5 modules and covers all aspects of MPU operation and hands-on training on its use.

The Power of Teaching Discourse: A Case Study of the Students at West Virginia State University

Language, which reflects a civilization, is unique for human beings. Teaching discourse also plays an important role in the classroom. This paper intends to answer this research question through analysis of a questionnaire survey and three video clips: How does English function in university classes? With the assistance of Professor Barbara Ladner for her questionnaire distribution at West Virginia State University, the questionnaire was designed to survey the students at West Virginia State University. The result shows that English used in a class does the same function as a kind of teaching discourse. Teachers are suggested to employ proper strategies in vocabulary and expression to make the class effective and efficient. Additionally, three teaching video clips were explored for the investigation of teaching discourse, which shows that a well-structured teaching discourse can help a teacher conduct a successful class.

Assessment and Analysis of Undergraduate Fall Enrollment Trends of The Selected College of Agriculture at the 1890 Land-Grant Universities: 1996 To 2018

Background: The 1890 land-grant universities consisted of 19 universities, and these networks of schools and colleges were established under the Second Morrill Act of 1890. These universities aim to strengthen research, extension, and teaching in the food and agricultural sciences and work on funding for scholarships and employment, quality advisement, and a network system with mentors for African American students. Besides food and agricultural sciences,1890 Land-Grant universities create opportunities for African Americans to educate and build careers in agriculture, food, natural resources, and human sciences. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess and analyze the college of agriculture’s undergraduate fall enrollment trends of all the 1890 land-grant universities from 1996 to 2018. Methods: Time series data were collected on undergraduate fall enrollment of the college of agriculture for 18 land-grant universities (one unavailable) and examined the general fall enrollment trend of all universities through the analysis of line chart. Result: The most significant output result of the study is that among the 18 universities, eight universities are highly expected to increase the enrollment number of students, two universities are highly potential for losing students in the future, and others have relatively inconsistent growth rate. Conclusions: The paper concludes that most of the College of Agriculture at the 1890 Land Grant universities have a high potential for enriching its departments in the future. Colleges of Agriculture at the Land Grant Universities were established to improve higher agricultural education for the minorities, especially African Americans. These universities continuously play a vital role in educating African American students. Furthermore, 1890 universities are extremely important to keep the diversities in the professions in the field of agriculture. It can be concluded that particularly the potential declining colleges (West Virginia State University, Tennessee State University, Kentucky State University, South Carolina State University, and Tuskegee University) should be given special attention.

First Report of Fusarium Yellows and Rhizome Rot Caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. zingiberi on Ginger in the Continental United States.

Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) is one of the most widely consumed medicinal herb in the world, and the U.S. imports of ginger have risen in recent years because of its health benefits. Seed rhizome and soilborne diseases are serious concerns of ginger worldwide (Stirling 2004; Moreira et al. 2013), including the recent observations of Fusarium yellows and rhizome rot in the Commonwealth of Virginia. In October 2018 and 2019, ginger plants with yellowing of leaf margins and stunted growth were uprooted from a 9.1 m × 14.6 m high tunnel (HT) and from an outdoor raised bed at Virginia State University's Randolph farm. Disease incidence in the HT and the raised bed was estimated between 5-70%. Small pieces (2-5 mm) of symptomatic rhizomes were disinfected with 0.6% sodium hypochlorite solution and placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA) Petri plates to recover fungal isolates. Hyphal tips from these isolates were transferred to fresh PDA to obtain pure cultures. The fungal colonies were pinkish-white initially, and turned purplish-pink after 5-7 days of incubation at 25 °C. The microconidia were aseptate, oval or elliptical, hyaline, and measured 5 to 12 × 4 to 6 µm in size. Macroconidia were with 3 to 5 septations, curved like a sickle towards the ventral side, hyaline, smooth and thin-walled, and 15 to 40 × 3 to 6 µm in size. Fungal genomic DNA of one isolate (Gf-VA-3) was extracted from a 7-days old culture using PrepMan®Ultra (Thermo Fischer Scientific, Cheshire UK). Four conserved regions of the isolated pathogen, internal transcribed spacer (ITS), translation elongation factor (EF), β-tubulin (Bt), and calmodulin (cal) gene regions were amplified using ITS1 and ITS4 (White et al. 1990), ef1α and ef2α (O'Donnell et al. 1998), Bt2a and Bt2b (Glass and Donaldson 1995), and calA1 and calQ1 (Carbone and Kohn 1999), respectively. PCR products were sequenced, and amplicons deposited in GenBank with accession numbers MT337417 for ITS, MT436712 for Bt, MT802441 for cal and MW816632 for EF. A 99-100% identity with Fusarium oxysporum was matched with accession nos. MW776326 for ITS, MN646766 for the β-tubulin, MT010904 for the calmodulin and MN258350 for the translation elongation factor genes. For pathogenicity test, six 6-week-old healthy ginger plants grown on sterilized potting mix in the greenhouse were inoculated by injecting 3-ml of a 1 × 108 micro- and macro-conidia suspension per ml at the crown area transcending to the rhizome. Another set of six plants were injected with distilled and autoclaved water in the same way. After four weeks, leaves withered, plants exhibited yellowing and wilt followed by stunted growth and eventually complete collapse of the six inoculated plants, however control plants showed none of the symptoms. The same pathogen was re-isolated from the inoculated plants. The pathogenicity test was repeated, and the same results were observed. Fusarium yellows and rhizome rot has been reported from Hawaii in the U.S. (Trujillo 1963), Brazil (Moreira et al. 2013), Australia (Stirling 2004), China (Li et al. 2014), and India (Shanmugam et al. 2013). To our knowledge, this is the first report of Fusarium yellows and rhizome rot on ginger in the Continental U.S. The disease is seed rhizome and soilborne leading to poor establishment and hence economic loss in ginger production.

John L. Fuller, PhD: 4th District

John L. Fuller, PhD:4th District Judson L. Jeffries In 2007 Dr. John L. Fuller retired from West Virginia State University after a long and distinguished career as the university's registrar. After graduating from West Virginia State College (now University), Brother Fuller matriculated at the West Virginia College of Graduate Studies and earned a master's degree in higher education administration.1 He later earned his doctorate in leadership studies with a concentration in higher education and counseling at Kent State University. Born and bred on the East Coast, Fuller grew up in the town of Framingham, Massachusetts, less than 25 miles west of Boston. Rich in Black history, Framingham was an annual gathering-spot for abolitionists. Every 4th of July from 1854 to 1865, which marked the beginning of Reconstruction, the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society held a rally in a picnic area called Harmony Grove near downtown Framingham. The first rally is widely remembered for William Lloyd Garrison burning copies of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, as Sojourner Truth, Lucy Stone, Henry David Thoreau, and William Cooper Nell looked on. Framingham is also famous for being the home of Dr. Fuller's grandmother—Mrs. Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller—who was known for her depictions of Blacks as a painter and sculptor and was the first Black woman to receive a US government art commission. Brother Fuller continues in this long line of distinguished African Americans who call Framingham home. The conversation that follows is the product of several conversations that occurred in May 2021. Judson L. Jeffries: I heard a lot about you Brother Fuller, thank you for agreeing to participate. John L. Fuller: No, thank you, I think what you're doing is commendable. JLJ: Well, thank you, if you don't mind, we'll get right into it. JLF: Ok, fine with me. [End Page 301] JLJ: How many years did you serve as the registrar for West Virginia State University? JLF: Let's see, I started as the registrar in 1973 and retired in 2007; so that's what, 34 years? JLJ: That's a heck of a long time Brother Fuller. JLF: Yes, it is, but don't forget now Brother Jeffries, I was actually there longer than that because I held other positions there as well. JLJ: What other positions did you hold? JLF: Let's see, I began in 1966–1967 as head dormitory counselor for the Freshmen Residence Hall, then in 1967–1968 I was a student personnel counselor, and from 1968 to 1969 I was director of student activities and associate dean of student affairs the following year. Then in 1970–1971 I was assistant registrar. JLJ: Wow, that's a mighty long list. JLF: Hold on, Brother Jeffries, there were position title changes. From 1974 to 1995 I was director of registration and admissions, and from 1995 to 2001 I was director of registration and records, and finally from 2001 to 2007 I was director of registration and records and special assistant to the vice president of academic affairs. JLJ: Good Lord, what position didn't you hold? JLF: [Laughter] I held quite a few, that's for sure. JLJ: So, you retired in 2007? JLF: Yes, I retired in 2007, but then in 2008 I was asked to serve as interim vice president for planning and advancement. Initially, I was asked to serve in that capacity for just a semester, but I ended up staying quite a bit longer than that. JLJ: You may not see yourself this way Brother Fuller, but after talking to one of your colleagues and now listening to you, as you lay out the highlights of your career at West Virginia State University, I think I would be on solid footing by referring to you as an institution. You're a living, breathing institution. JLF: I don't know about that, although some people have mentioned that. JLJ: Oh yeah, I think so. JLF: Well, I don't take the compliment lightly. JLJ: I don't think that's debatable, but anyway, I'm going to change channels right now. JLF: Ok. JLJ: When you think back on your time at West...

Wheeling’s Polonia: Reconstructing Polish Community in a West Virginia Steel Town

Book Review| October 01 2021 Wheeling’s Polonia: Reconstructing Polish Community in a West Virginia Steel Town William Hal Gorby, Wheeling’s Polonia: Reconstructing Polish Community in a West Virginia Steel Town, (Morgantown: West Virginia State University Press, 2020). xiv + 331 pp. ISBN 978-1-949199-40-6 (paperback), 978-1-949199-39-0 (hardcover), 978-1-949199-41-3 (electronic). John M. Grondelski John M. Grondelski Falls Church, Virginia Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Polish American Studies (2021) 78 (2): 73–75. https://doi.org/10.5406/poliamerstud.78.2.0073 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation John M. Grondelski; Wheeling’s Polonia: Reconstructing Polish Community in a West Virginia Steel Town. Polish American Studies 1 January 2021; 78 (2): 73–75. doi: https://doi.org/10.5406/poliamerstud.78.2.0073 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All Scholarly Publishing CollectiveUniversity of Illinois PressPolish American Studies Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. Copyright 2021 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois2021 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Food Safety Research at Virginia State University

Recognizing the importance of food safety education toward students and stakeholders, the Food Safety and Microbiology program at Virginia State University (VSU) works continually to improve the safety and quality of our nation’s food supply through research, teaching and outreach.

Historic trailblazers—Part III

Angie Turner King Angie Turner King was born in 1905, a time when few women—let alone Black women—were scientists, and fewer still earned PhDs. She grew up in McDowell County, part of West Virginia’s coal country. Her grandparents were once enslaved and her father, though uneducated himself, encouraged her to pursue education. Throughout her long career as an educator, she ensured that many others followed her father’s advice. King graduated high school at 14, then earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and mathematics at West Virginia Collegiate Institute (now West Virginia State University). King taught chemistry and mathematics at the Teacher Training High School while working on her master’s degree at Cornell University, earning her degree in mathematics and chemistry in 1931. She then taught high school chemistry for several years before joining the faculty at West Virginia State. There she set about refurbishing the college’s lab to ensure students

Growth response of alfalfa to Azomite composite micronutrient fertilizer on four lime‐amended Virginia soils

AbstractThe growth responses of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) to azomite, a natural composite earth mineral, were assessed in a greenhouse experiment at Virginia State University, Chesterfield, VA. Alfalfa plants were raised on lime‐amended Bojac, Bourne, Emporia and Cullen soils that received 224 kg K/ha in 14 × 16 cm pots. Azomite, a natural composite micronutrients fertilizer, was applied at 0, 200, 400, 600 kg/ha and experiment replicated three times. Over 29 weeks, plant heights and forage biomass were recorded and growth rates calculated at four different cuts. The data were analyzed using the PROC GLIMMIX procedure in SAS 9.3 to test for effects of soil type and azomite rates on the performance of alfalfa. Results indicate that, compared to the control, azomite application increased plant heights, forage biomass and growth rates of alfalfa and more so on Bojac and Bourne than Emporia and Cullen soils. This was most likely due to good water permeability and high nutrient activity in the semi‐active Bojac and Bourne compared to the sub‐active Emporia and Cullen soils. Plant heights, biomass and growth rates were greatest for plants receiving 200 kg azomite/ha while those on the 600 kg/ha rate performed worse than the control. Alfalfa on lime‐amended and K‐sufficient soils responded positively to 200 kg azomite/ha, but was impacted negatively at the higher rates.