Iowa
Iowa’s white oaks are dying. New test kits could show why.
COLO — More than a decade into a mysterious epidemic killing off white oak trees, Iowa foresters hope a new test kit will help them quickly screen trees in the field for half the cost of laboratory tests.
Inspired by COVID-19 rapid tests, a Minnesota startup developed a kit that amplifies the DNA of a fungus spreading among oaks weakened by drought. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources hopes to use information gathered from these kits to isolate infected trees and protect others.
“A lot of people are concerned about this white oak decline,” said Tivon Feeley, Forest Health Program leader for the Iowa DNR. Foresters want to know whether they should replant white oaks or choose other species. “Right now, I can’t tell them. (But) this test gives us a lot of tools we can start using.”
Background
Around 2010, foresters across the Midwest started noticing centuries-old white oak trees dying off in just one season and didn’t know why. Oak wilt, a fungal disease spread by insects or through the root systems of infected trees, was a possible culprit, but most foresters hadn’t seen it be so fast or so deadly.
“With this oak decline, we have two to three dead trees almost every other acre,” Amana Society Forester Tim Krauss said in October 2022. “We have to harvest the dead trees because we only have a year until they are no good. We can make our budget by just cutting dead trees. The downside is, they are not coming back.”
When 200-year-old and 300-year-old giants are felled, increased sunlight on the forest floor causes an explosion of invasive species and less-desirable trees, including hackberry and elm, Krauss said.
Climate change has played a role in the rapid decline of white oaks, with drought making the trees more vulnerable to disease or pests.
The U.S. Forest Service and the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers planned a pilot project with a new test kit to quickly determine if a tree has oak wilt, but efforts to develop the kits at the University of Toronto fell through in 2023.
What’s happened since
Abdennour Abbas, a professor of nanotechnology at the University of Minnesota, stepped up in 2023 with PureBioX, a St. Paul, Minn., startup that develops rapid tests for use in health care, pharmaceutical, food and agricultural industries.
“The regular test is a cell culture and it takes a very long time,” said Anil Meher, a PureBioX analytical chemist who last week visited Iowa for a trial of the oak wilt test kits at Hickory Grove Park near Colo, in Story County.
When plant diagnostic laboratories test trees for oak wilt, the results can take two weeks to two months and cost $70 to $300, the Iowa DNR’s Feeley said. PureBioX’s test kits take one hour and cost about $30 each.
“It’s quite simple so you can do it in the field setting,” Meher said.
Mark Runkel, an Iowa DNR forest health technician, and John Mullen, a GIS analyst for the department, walked out into a stand of trees at Hickory Grove to look for white oaks with signs of oak wilt. The outer leaves may turn brown, while the veins stay green. And when a branch of an infected tree is removed, the cut ends smell like fermented fruit.
From each tree, they gathered a cluster of leaves, a branch and a 3-inch trunk core. If the tests of leaves are effective in determining infection, future tests won’t require branches or trunk cores.
Mullen marked the locations of the trees in a tablet and gave each a unique ID. Mapping the infected trees is an early step to determine how oak wilt might be spreading.
Meher and Feeley put each sample into a tube with chemicals that break down the tree matter. Meher extracted the DNA and put it into a tiny vial, which is heated on a portable pad to amplify the DNA. If the Bretiella fagacearum fungus, which causes oak wilt, is present, the liquid will turn yellow. If the fungus is not present, the liquid turns pink.
If foresters find isolated trees with oak wilt, they could spray herbicide on those trees in hopes of halting the transmission through underground root systems, Feeley said.
The team plans to test trees in the Amana Society’s 7,000-acre timber, in Marshall County, in the Loess Hills in Western Iowa and in the Des Moines area. They also are putting out insect traps in forests with oak wilt to see what kinds of bugs might be carrying the fungus. Results of these studies will go into the 2024 Forest Health report.
Comments: (319) 339-3157; erin.jordan@thegazette.com
Nebraska men’s basketball faces a critical week that will determine its Big Ten Conference and NCAA Tournament seeding.
The Huskers play at UCLA on Tuesday night and finish the regular season next Sunday at home vs. Iowa.
The Huskers are currently tied for second place in the Big Ten with Michigan State. Both teams have four conference losses. They are one game in the loss column ahead of Illinois and Purdue, with five losses. Wisconsin has six losses.
The top four teams earn the coveted triple bye for the Big Ten Tournament. Regular-season champion Michigan has one spot locked up.
Here are the remaining schedules of the contenders for the triple bye, with conference record in parentheses:
Nebraska (14-4)
* Tuesday: at UCLA
* Sunday: vs. Iowa
Michigan State (13-4)
* Sunday: at Indiana
* Thursday: vs. Rutgers
* Sunday, March 8: at Michigan
Illinois (13-5)
* Tuesday: vs. Oregon
* Sunday, March 8: at Maryland
Purdue (12-5)
* Sunday: at Ohio State
* Wednesday: at Northwestern
* Saturday: vs. Wisconsin
Wisconsin (12-6)
* Wednesday: vs. Maryland
* Saturday: at Purdue
Maintaining an NCAA seed no worse than 3 should benefit the Huskers, who wouldn’t have to play, theoretically, the No. 1 seed until the Elite Eight game.
It’s a ton to play for in the final week of a historic regular season for Nebraska. But that’s what March is all about.
Nebraska at UCLA
When: Tuesday, 10 p.m. CT
Where: Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles
Records: Nebraska, 25-4, 14-4 in Big Ten; UCLA, 19-10, 11-7 in Big Ten
TV: FS1
Rankings updated based on games through Saturday.
UCLA rankings
* Associated Press Top 25: Not ranked
* NCAA Net Ratings: 40
* USA Today Coaches Poll: Not ranked
* Kenpom.com: 41
* ESPN Power Index: 34
* Top 25 and 1: Not ranked
* Team Rankings.com: 41
In Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology projections for ESPN, UCLA is a 9-seed for the 68-team NCAA Tournament. The next Bracketology will be released Tuesday.
Nebraska rankings
* Associated Press Top 25: 12
* NCAA Net Ratings: 12
* USA Today Coaches Poll: 10
* Kenpom.com: 11
* ESPN Power Index: 15
* Top 25 and 1: 8
* Team Rankings.com: 11
In Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology projections for ESPN, Nebraska is a 3-seed for the 68-team NCAA Tournament.
Nebraska-UCLA analysis
The Bruins are coming off a strange week. They crushed visiting rival USC, 81-62, on Tuesday, then lost at Minnesota, 78-73, on Saturday.
UCLA is 16-1 at home, its only loss to Indiana, 98-97, in double overtime on Jan. 31.
The game will be a homecoming for Huskers forward Berke Buyuktuncel, who played at UCLA in 2023-24, his freshman season. Buyuktuncel has started 27 games and averages 6.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game this season for the Huskers and frequently earns praise from coach Fred Hoiberg.
Nebraska thoroughly dispatched USC on Saturday, 82-67, an impressive performance on the road against a Trojans team desperate for a statement win to help — or save — their NCAA hopes.
Pryce Sandfort scored 32 points — one short of his career high — as the Huskers won their 14th conference game, a school record. Nebraska is 7-2 on the road in conference games.
This should be a great matchup — UCLA a strong team playing at home vs. a Nebraska team playing well and full of confidence. This feels like a one-possession game.
Iowa at Nebraska
When: Sunday, March 8, 4 p.m. CT
Where: Pinnacle Bank Arena
Records: Nebraska, 25-4, 14-4 in Big Ten; Iowa, 20-9, 10-8 in Big Ten
TV: Fox
Rankings updated based on games through Saturday.
Iowa rankings
* Associated Press Top 25: 33
* NCAA Net Ratings: 28
* USA Today Coaches Poll: 30
* Kenpom.com: 24
* ESPN Power Index: 35
* Top 25 and 1: Not ranked
* Team Rankings.com: 31
In Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology projections for ESPN, Iowa is an 8-seed for the 68-team NCAA Tournament.
Nebraska rankings
* Associated Press Top 25: 12
* NCAA Net Ratings: 12
* USA Today Coaches Poll: 10
* Kenpom.com: 11
* ESPN Power Index: 15
* Top 25 and 1: 8
* Team Rankings.com: 11
In Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology projections for ESPN, Nebraska is a 3-seed for the 68-team NCAA Tournament.
Nebraska-Iowa analysis
The Hawkeyes are coming off a puzzling, 71-69 loss at Penn State on Saturday. Iowa led 67-62 with 3:49 to play, and then scored only one more basket. Iowa plays host to Michigan on Thursday.
Nebraska will get a final curtain call at Pinnacle Bank Arena, where the Huskers are 15-2.
Nebraska should have revenge on its mind after losing at Iowa, 57-52, on Feb. 17, in Sandfort’s return to Iowa City, where he played for two seasons.
Whatever Nebraska nerves were a factor at Iowa shouldn’t be in play at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska shot only 21 percent from distance in Iowa City. Sandfort scored 13 points, his lowest total since Jan. 10, when he scored 12 at Indiana.
Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz scored 25 points. That won’t happen in this game. Neither will Nebraska’s ice-cold shooting from distance, especially if the game could determine the triple bye for the Huskers.
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The Class 1A and Class 2A Iowa high school boys basketball state tournament brackets are now official following substate action.
The Iowa High School Athletic Association Boys State Tournament begins Monday, March 9 from the Casey’s Center in Des Moines, Iowa.
St. Edmond, the top-seed in 1A, gets Woodbine in a rematch of a quarterfinal from a year ago. Woodbine ended the run of defending state champion Madrid in a substate final on the same court that St. Edmond qualified on when they defeated Riverside.
Burlington Notre Dame plays Bellevue, MMCRU meets Boyden-Hull and Bishop Garrigan battles Bellevue Marquette Catholic in the other elite eight games.
The other substate finals saw Burlington Notre Dame defeat Calamus-Wheatland, MMCRU eliminated North Union, Bishop Garrigan downed South Winneshiek, Bellevue bested East Marshall and Bellevue Marquette Catholic topped Montezuma.
In 2A, Kuemper Catholic is the No. 1 seed and will face Union Community in the opening game on Wednesday, March 11. The other quarterfinals see Treynor vs. Grundy Center, Unity Christian vs. defending state champion Western Christian and Iowa City Regina vs. Aplington-Parkersburg.
Kuemper Catholic survived vs. Roland-Story, Union knocked off Pella Christian in a nail-biter, Treynor bested Underwood, Grundy Center downed Beckman Catholic, Unity Christian handled Southeast Valley, Western Christian ran past Tri-Center, Iowa City Regina downed Northeast and Aplington-Parkersburg defeated Cascade.
Here are the Iowa High School Athletic Association Boys State Basketball Tournament pairings for Class 1A and Class 2A.
Quarterfinals
Tuesday, March 10
Semifinals
Thursday, March 12
Championship
Friday, March 13
Wednesday, March 11
Semifinals
Thursday, March 12
Championship
Friday, March 13
SAINT PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota Wild President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Bill Guerin today announced the National Hockey League (NHL) club has recalled forward Tyler Pitlick from the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League (AHL).
Pitlick, 34 (11/1/91), has tallied two goals, 24 penalty minutes (PIM) and 26 shots in 31 games with Minnesota this season and ranks fourth on the team with 76 hits. He has also collected 11 points (8-3=11) and 31 shots in 12 games with Iowa. The 6-foot-2, 201-pound native of Minneapolis, Minn., owns 111 points (58-53=111) and 565 shots on goal in 451 career NHL games over 11 seasons with the Edmonton Oilers (2013-17), Dallas Stars (2017-19), Philadelphia Flyers (2019-20), Arizona Coyotes (2020-21), Calgary Flames (2021-22), Montreal Canadiens (2021-22), St. Louis Blues (2022-23), New York Rangers (2023-24) and Minnesota (2025-26). He has tallied three points (2-1=3) in 22 career Stanley Cup Playoff games. Pitlick has also recorded 140 points (60-89=149) in 289 career AHL games in parts of eight seasons with the Oklahoma City Barons (2011-15), Bakersfield Condors (2015-16), Hartford Wolf Pack (2023-24), Providence Bruins (2024-25) and Iowa (2025). He was originally selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the second round (31st overall) of the 2010 NHL Draft. Pitlick was signed by Minnesota as a free agent on July 2, 2025, and wears sweater No. 19 with the Wild.
Minnesota hosts the St. Louis Blues tomorrow at 4 p.m. CT on FanDuel Sports Network and KFAN FM 100.3.
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