Award details

16AGRITECHCAT5: Integrated control of Leptosphaeria pathogens on UK winter oilseed rape

Reference	BB/P00489X/1
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Bruce Fitt
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors	Dr Yongju Huang
Institution	University of Hertfordshire
Department	School of Life and Medical Sciences
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	375,166
Status	Completed
Type	Research Grant
Start date	01/10/2016
End date	31/10/2020
Duration	49 months

Abstract

Summary

Phoma stem canker is an economically important disease of oilseed rape in the UK, leading to annual yield losses > £100M. This disease is caused by two closely related pathogens: Leptosphaeria biglobosa and L. maculans. However, current control of this disease focuses only on L. maculans and does not account for epidemics caused by L. biglobosa. This is one reason why this disease still causes substantial yield losses in the UK, despite the use of fungicides costing £20 M p.a. Results of recent work showed that L. biglobosa can be as destructive as L. maculans and that L. biglobosa is less sensitive to triazole fungicides than L. maculans. Therefore, L. biglobosa is a growing threat to oilseed rape production in the UK since no methods have been developed to control it. Previous research has mainly focused on improving control of L. maculans by both cultivar resistance and fungicides and little work has been done on control of L. biglobosa. The aims of this project are to understand stem canker epidemics caused by L. biglobosa and to develop new strategies for better control of phoma stem canker by targeting both causal pathogens (L. biglobosa and L. maculans). This project will use molecular techniques to investigate the differences between different regions in proportions of L. biglobosa and L. maculans in pathogen populations from air samples and differences in proportions of L. biglobosa and L. maculans in oilseed rape stems with severe canker symptoms sampled from different field trials and farmer's fields. Results will be used to guide deployment of cultivars with suitable resistance for the region where the corresponding pathogen species (L. biglobosa or L. maculans) is predominant. Control of severe stem canker epidemics involves fungicides. However, current fungicide control targets only L. maculans and has relied on use of triazole fungicides. Recent work showed that L. biglobosa is less sensitive to triazole fungicides than L. maculans. This project will investigate efficacy of triazole and non-triazole fungicides for control of L. biglobosa as well as L. maculans. The new knowledge about efficacy of different fungicides for control of the two pathogens, combined with the information about proportions of L. biglobosa and L. maculans in pathogen populations, will enable better control of the disease by targeted fungicide application. This project will also investigate the mechanisms of changes in sensitivity to different fungicides in L. biglobosa and L. maculans. The new knowledge will be used to guide use of existing fungicides and development of new fungicides. Use of host resistance is an effective and environmentally friendly way to control plant diseases. However, previous work on oilseed rape resistance against phoma stem canker has been focused on resistance against L. maculans with no work done on resistance against L. biglobosa. This project will assess cultivars and pre-breeding material for resistance against L. biglobosa and use recent developments in genomics to identify candidate resistance genes. This will provide new knowledge for improving breeding and using cultivar resistance to control the disease. New knowledge obtained from this project about the two causal pathogens, host resistance and efficacy of different fungicides for controlling them will be used to develop integrated control strategies for better control of phoma stem canker. This project will benefit growers by reducing yield losses through development of effective control methods targeting both pathogens. It will also address the challenge of food security. The environment will also benefit from reduced use of fungicides through targeted fungicide applications.

Impact Summary

A major beneficiary of the project will be growers. New knowledge produced from this project will not only enable better control phoma stem canker to increase yield (by reducing yield losses from the disease) but also help to reduce cost of fungicides (by targeted fungicide application to eliminate unnecessary sprays) to improve profitability. Therefore, this project will help growers to achieve more sustainable and profitable control of phoma stem canker in oilseed rape. Another major beneficiary of the project will be plant breeders. Currently, there is no information about host resistance against L. biglobosa. The project will develop methods to screen for resistance against L. biglobosa in cultivars and pre-breeding materials, and search for candidate resistance genes using new bioinformatics. Results of this project will provide breeders with materials and information for breeding cultivars with resistance against L. biglobosa. This project will also benefit agrochemical companies. Current use of fungicides for control of phoma stem canker mainly targets L. maculans and relies on triazole fungicides. This project will investigate efficacy of triazole and non-triazole fungicides for control of L. biglobosa as well as L. maculans. Results from this research will help agrochemical companies to develop and market fungicides for effective control of phoma stem canker by targeting both pathogens. Agricultural advisors will also benefit by providing better disease control advice. With the new information about differences in pathogen populations between regions, differences in resistance against L. biglobosa and/or L. maculans between cultivars and differences in efficacy for control of L. biglobosa and L. maculans between different fungicides, agronomists can make recommendations on use of effective host resistance and effective fungicides for effective control of phoma stem canker. Ultimately the public and environment will benefit from reduced fungicide use through improved guidance on deployment of host resistance and targeted fungicide applications. Furthermore, improved disease control in oilseed rape crops will increase yield, which will contribute to national food security. Improved control of phoma stem canker will not only increase yield to contribute to food security, but also reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to contribute to climate change mitigation. The involvement of seven different partners from different parts of agricultural industry in this project will ensure that outcomes of this research are exploited directly to translate scientific outputs into practical improvements to current disease management strategies. Improved understanding of phoma stem canker epidemics caused by both pathogens and use of host resistance and effective fungicides for control them will benefit the scientific communities (e.g. Leptosphaeria Research Community and Brassica Research Community), because phoma stem canker is not only a disease problem on oilseed rape in the UK but also a global disease on oilseed rape and brassica vegetables. In addition, this project will also provide training to young students in applied plant pathology, an area currently experiencing skill shortage in the UK (http://www.bspp.org.uk/news). The young applied plant pathologist trained by this project will benefit the UK agricultural industry and supports the UK Government's priority to prevent the spread of animal and plant diseases (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/combined-agency-tosafeguardanimal-and-plant-health).

Committee	Not funded via Committee
Research Topics	Crop Science, Microbiology, Plant Science
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	Agri-Tech Catalyst (ATC) [2013-2015]
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

I accept the terms and conditions of use (opens in new window)

export PDF file

back to list new search