Jose Antonio Martinelli

Soybean pod blight and root rot caused by lineages of the Fusarium graminearum and the production of mycotoxins

Surveys of soybean (Glycine max) seed grown in South Brazil revealed infection with Fusarium graminearum. To determine if members of this complex were pathogenic to soybean, six strains derived from soybean were added to soil at a rate of 103 macroconidia/ ml or individual pods were inoculated with 104 macroconidia/ml. Seedlings grown in infested soil developed small necrotic lesions in the crown and upper roots. Pods inoculated with conidia developed large (>1 cm), dark brown, necrotic lesions. Younger pods inoculated with the fungus blighted and dropped from the plant. Strains of the F. graminearum complex recovered from lesions on the crown, roots and pods of soybean plants were identified as lineage 1, 2 or 8 by obtaining the DNA sequence from the EF1-alpha gene and comparing it to strains of the known lineage. Two strains of F. graminearum lineage 7 from the U.S. caused similar symptoms of the disease on soybean. Mycotoxin tests on soybean and wheat (Triticum aestivum) indicate that most Brazilian strains produce nivalenol as the major trichothecene mycotoxin rather than deoxynivalenol. In addition, strains from lineages 2 and 8 produce the novel trichothecene, 3-acetylnivalenol.

Molecular mapping and identification of QTL's associated to oat crown rust partial resistance

SummaryMolecular mapping is a promising strategy for studying and understanding traits with complex genetic control, such as partial resistance to oat crown rust. The objectives of this research were to develop molecular maps from the progenies of the cross UFRGS7 (susceptible) × UFRGS910906 (partially resistant) and to identify QTLs (quantitative trait loci) associated to partial resistance to oat crown rust in two generations of that population.DNA of 86 genotypes of the F2 and 90 genotypes of the F6 UFRGS7 × UFRGS910906 population were used to generate AFLP markers. Molecular maps were constructed using Mapmaker Exp. 3.0 and QTLs for partial resistance to oat crown rust were identified with Mapmaker/QTL software. Five hundred and fifty seven markers in the F2 and 243 markers in the F6 generations were identified. The F2 map integrated 250 markers in 37 linkage groups. The F6 map integrated 86 markers in 17 linkage groups.Five QTLs were identified for partial resistance to oat crown rust in the F2 generation and three QTLs in the F6. The QTL identified on F6 through the PaaaMctt340 AFLP marker showed consistency across two environments and two generations (F4 and F6), and appear to have potential for marker-assisted selection in oat.

Resistência quantitativa à ferrugem da folha em genótipos de aveia branca: I - Caracterização da reação em condições de campo

Quantitative resistance to crown rust in white oat genotypes: I – Characterization of reaction in field conditions Among diseases that attack oat (Avena sativa) crop, crown rust, caused by Puccinia coronata f. sp. avenae, has been the most destructive, being responsible for a decrease in the quality and yield of grains. Control through qualitative resistance has been restricted by the capacity of the pathogen to overcome this resistance type. Seeking an alternative strategy for disease control, 31 white oat genotypes were investigated for the occurrence of quantitative resistance. Trials were accomplished from 1996 to 2000, in the Agronomic Experimental Station of UFRGS, in Eldorado do Sul, RS, Brazil. Disease progress was evaluated in the field for three years, and some genotypes were tested for five years. Weekly evaluations of rust severity in each plot were performed, providing data from which to determine the disease progress curves, and calculate the area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC), and the rate of development of disease (r). There was great variability among genotypes for all the years in regard to rust reaction, allowing the genotypes to be classified in four groups: resistant, moderately resistant, moderately susceptible and susceptible. The first two groups have good levels of quantitative resistance and can be used in the future as parents in breeding programs.

The importance for food security of maintaining rust resistance in wheat

Wheat is one of the main sources of calories and protein of the world’s population and therefore the pathogens that cause rust diseases of the crop are a real threat to food security. Besides the continuous evolution of rust pathogens which repeatedly results in overcoming the resistance of commercial varieties throughout the world, plant breeders are also now challenged by the impacts of global climatic changes. Agricultural practices will need to keep pace with the intensification of sustainable food production in order to face the challenge of feeding a world population estimated to reach about nine billion by 2050. Contemporary wheat breeding has increasingly focused on the future, culminating in the emergence of a global partnership for breeding new wheat varieties with resistance to rust pathogens. Plant breeding now employs a wide range of both long-established and frontier technologies aimed at achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals of ending hunger and extreme poverty (MDG1), while concurrently promoting environmental sustainability (MDG7) through global partnerships for development (MDG8).

Resistência Quantitativa à Ferrugem da Folha em Genótipos de Aveia Branca: II - Avaliação de Componentes de Resistência*

Quantitative resistance to crown rust in white oat genotypes: II - Evaluation of resistance components The use of quantitative resistance as a form to control oat (Avena sativa) crown rust can be a viable alternative, once there is differentiated reaction among oat genotypes in field, which shows great variation. The slow disease progress observed in the field is the result of combined effects of resistance components as low infection efficiency, longer latent period, low number of spores per pustule and little pustules size. This work was accomplished in 1999 and 2000, and its objective was to quantify the resistance components above mentioned in 31 white oat genotypes. The reaction of these genotypes was evaluated in the field, from 1996 to 2000, and they were classified in four groups. Evaluation of resistance components was accomplished in seedlings and adult plants maintained in controlled conditions, and the last two components were also quantified in leaves collected in the field trials. Genotypes showed variability for all measured characteristics, except for latent period in seedlings, and those genotypes classified as resistant in the field presented the best combination of desirable components.

Inheritance of resistance to oat crown rust in recombinant inbred lines

Crown rust is the main disease affecting oats (Avena sativa L.), and genetic resistance has been the chief method utilized to control this disease. A population composed of 135 recombinant inbred lines, F 5:6 , generated by crossing the oat cultivar UFRGS 8 with the genotype Pc68/5*Starter, was assessed on the inheritance of resistance to crown rust (Puccinia coronata f. sp. avenae P. Syd. & Syd.). The evaluation of resistance in F 5:6 seedlings was based on the type of infection resulting from inoculation with the race SQPT of P. coronata f. sp. avenae. The proportion of Resistant: Susceptible seedlings (R:S) was 62:64, which indicates that inheritance was governed by a single gene. The assessment of resistance inheritance in adult plants was performed in the field during the years 2004 and 2005. The distinction between resistant and susceptible classes was based on the final severity (FS) as well as the area under the disease progress curve, which was normalized and corrected (AUDPC*c). F 5:6 and F 5:7 were evaluated under field conditions in 2004 and 2005, demonstrating a ratio of approximately 1R:3S, which fits with a typical two genes inheritance model.

Phenotypic and genetic characterization of partial resistance to crown rust in Avena sativa L.

Crown rust is a major oat disease. Partial resistance is a promising option for disease control for being potentially more durable than complete resistance. The objective of this study was to investigate the inheritance of partial resistance to crown rust in oat populations that were derived from a cross between cultivar URS 21 (partially resistant) and URS 22 (susceptible). In 2010, the six basic generations (P1, P2, F1, F2, BC1, and BC2) were sown in the field, and resistance to crown rust was assessed using the area under the disease progress curve, normalized and corrected for each individual plant. The inheritance of the trait partial resistance was oligogenic, indicating the presence of genes with both major and minor phenotypic effects. Additive and dominance effects were important to determine the partial resistance and the heritability estimates were high, indicating the possibility of selection for resistance in early generations.

Resistência quantitativa à ferrugem da folha em genótipos de aveia branca: III - Correlação de componentes de resistência entre si e com a intensidade de doença no campo

Selection of genotypes for quantitative resistance to oat crown rust, based on its components, needs the knowledge of the association of these components with each other and with the amount of disease in the field, represented by AUDPC. This work aimed to determine these correlations, based on results of previous trials, in which the reaction of 31 white oat genotypes was tested and the resistance components were quantified. Correlations were usually low for the resistance components with each other and for these components with the amount of disease in the field. Higher correlations, consistent among years, with AUDPC were infection frequency in seedlings and latent period and pustule size in adult plants. All other possible correlations were very low. These data suggest that the resistance components mentioned can influence the expression of quantitative resistance in the field in a somewhat important manner. Nevertheless, the low correlation of resistance components with each other indicates that genotype selection, in this host-pathogen interaction, must not be based on a single resistance component assessment. The correlation analysis suggests that the expression of quantitative resistance to oat crown rust is not conditioned by a single resistance component but by the group effect of all of them. In addition, it is possible that different mechanisms are involved for each genotype, in such a way that the more important resistance component in one genotype may not be the same for another.

Histopathology of durable adult plant resistance to leaf rust in the Brazilian wheat variety Toropi

Leaf rust, caused by the fungus Puccinia triticina is a major disease of wheat (Triticum aestivum) worldwide. This disease is prevalent in southern South America where the environmental conditions and high genetic variability of P. triticina favour epidemics. The primary means of controlling pathogenic P. triticina races has been through using wheat varieties containing race-specific resistance genes. The defence mechanisms involved in durable race non-specific resistance to P. triticina are probably distinct from those involved in non-durable race-specific resistance. We investigated the histological components of resistance to P. triticina present in three wheat genotypes: the race non-specific resistant Brazilian variety Toropi; the race-specific resistant line RL6010 Lr9; and the susceptible Brazilian variety BRS 194. Plants of these three genotypes were inoculated with P. triticina race MFP and tissue samples excised from flag leaves at various times after inoculation to assess the number of infective structures, frequency of cell death and the accumulation of autofluorescent cells and hydrogen peroxide. The genotypes showed different resistance mechanisms active at different times during the infection process. Our results for Toropi indicate that there was a reduction in the extent of formation of stomatal appressoria and all subsequent structures. During attempted penetration we also observed the production of autofluorescent compounds and late cell death, but not peroxide formation. This non-specific resistance to P. triticina involves both pre-haustorial and post-haustorial mechanisms which may be responsible for maintaining the low disease severity observed in this variety even under high inoculum pressure.

Virulência, atividade enzimática e padrões de isoesterases de isolados de Pyrenophora chaetomioides, agente etiológico da mancha de grãos e folhas de aveia

The complexity of the population of Pyrenophora chaetomioides, the major causal agent of the oat (Avena sativa) leaf and kernel spot, is not well known in south Brazil. Therefore, studies on population diversity are useful to the breeding programs aimed at obtaining genetic resistance. In this work, eight isolates were selected from oat seeds harvested in the three southern Brazilian States. In order to test their virulence, the isolates were inoculated on six oat varieties and evaluated for disease severity and lesion type. All cultivars were susceptible to the isolates tested although variation in disease intensity among them was noticed. In another study, the isolates were evaluated in relation to their amilolytic, proteolytic and lipolytic activities on enzyme-specific media. Results from the inoculations on six oat cultivars showed a correlation between higher enzymatic activity and virulence of the isolates. Also, their a and b esterase patterns were compared by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Seven distinct isoenzymatic patterns of a and b esterase were observed among the isolates, although they were not correlated with virulence on oat seedlings