Xavier Pinochet

A large-scale survey of races of Leptosphaeria maculans occurring on oilseed rape in France

Nine avirulence genes (AvrLm1-AvrLm9) were identified in Leptosphaeria maculans, the causal agent of stem canker of oilseed rape (OSR), combinations of which could theoretically generate up to 512 different races of the fungus. L. maculans displays a high evolutionary potential to adapt to novel resistance genes as illustrated by the Rlm1 breakdown in France, where virulent populations became prevalent within three growing seasons. An improved knowledge of the race structure of the fungal population is therefore needed to ensure a better use of available major resistance genes. The objective of this study was to characterise the L. maculans population structure in France using a large-scale, rationalised sample of isolates. Experimental fields, planted with “trap plants” harbouring no major resistance gene, were sown at 20 locations. Single-pycnidium isolates were collected from leaf lesions that developed in early autumn and 1797 isolates were genotyped at Avr loci. The frequency of AvrLm6 and AvrLm7 was higher than 99%, whereas avrLm2 and avrLm9 alleles were fixed in the population. AvrLm1, AvrLm4, AvrLm5 and AvrLm8 were polymorphic. AvrLm3 isolates were detected at a very low frequency (less than 1%). Only 11 races were identified in France, with one race prevalent, namely Av5-6-7-(8) (i.e. virulent on Rlm1, Rlm2, Rlm3, Rlm4 and Rlm9), representing around 65% of the population. Disparities between the locations sampled were evident at all scales analysed. Some virulent races, such as those harbouring avrLm5, were present before the introduction of the corresponding resistance gene in the commercial OSR crop.

Early remobilization : a possible source of error in the ureide assay method for N2 fixation measurement by early maturing soybean

Abstract The ureide assay method has been found to be suitable for soybean (Glycine max) to assess nitrogen ixation in a wide range of genotypes and Bradyrhizobium strains. The relationships between the relative abundance of ureide-N in xylem-sap and the proportion of plant N derived from nitrogen fixation were studied for early maturing soybeans grown under greenhouse and field conditions. Plants grown under greenhouse conditions were either supplemented with N-free nutrients or supplied with different levels of 15N-nitrate. In the field, soybeans were grown with or without inoculation, in the presence or absence of nitrogen fertilizer. Treatments were applied in order to obtain a wide range of nitrogen nutrition levels. The effect of the source and level of nitrogen nutrition on growth and nitrogen accumulation in plants, proportion of fixed nitrogen in the xylem-sap and in the shoots, and the proportions of N-compounds in the xylem-sap was determined. The greenhouse study demonstrated that the relative...

Ability of two Bradyrhizobium japonicum strains to persist in soil and nodulate soybeans after dual inoculation

The competitiveness of two Bradyrhizobium japonicum strains was determined under controlled conditions. The relationship between the ratio of the nodules formed by the two bradyrhizobial strains and the ratio of the two strains in the inoculum was established and used as an internal standard to evaluate the equilibrium ratio between populations of the two strains in the soil. The fluorescent antibody (FA) technique was also used for counting the bradyrhizobial populations directly in the soil. Results with the FA technique were analysed and compared with the estimate obtained through nodule occupancy. The initial ratio of the two bradyrhizobial strains in populations introduced simultaneously into the soil changed during incubation time and the two strains reached the same equilibrium levels after 53 days. Never-theless, the strain introduced into the soil as an overpopulation remained clearly dominant for the nodule occupancy. We conclude that direct counts with the FA approach are selective and these counts could be mainly of the unattached bacteria.

Compte rendu du 12e congrès international sur le colza 26-30 mars 2007, Wuhan, Chine - « Qualité, nutrition, technologie, économie, génétique, amélioration des plantes et biotechnologie »

The 12th International rapeseed Congress was held in Wuhan, China (march 2007). Four years after the previous congress organized in Copenhagen, this conference has definitively confirmed the general interest for using rapeseed as raw material for biofuel. It has been a favoured place for making a well-documented point about the possible valorizations of the rapeseed products in food, feed, and non food areas. Last developments in agronomy, crop protection, breeding and biotechnology have been also presented and discussed.