Pflanzenparasitäre Nematoden im Ökologischen Landbau – Probleme und Lösungsansätze (Workshop)

Ziel dieses Workshops ist es, umfassende Informationen zur Bedeutung pflanzenparasitärer Nematoden im Ökologischen Landbau bzw. Bioanbau in der Schweiz und Deutschland vorzustellen, die Ursachen der Problematik und Lösungsansätze aufzuzeigen und zu diskutieren, sowie weiteren Forschungsbedarf zu identifizieren. In diesem Workshop sollen pflanzenparasitäre Nematoden hinsichtlich ihrer Biologie und der durch sie verursachten Symptome kurz vorgestellt werden. Des Weiteren werden die Verbreitung und wirtschaftliche Schäden, Lösungsansätze für den Gemüsebau und den Ackerbau vorgestellt und diskutiert. Dieser Workshop bietet die Möglichkeit den Erfahrungsaustausch zwischen Produzenten, Wissenschaftlern und Beratern zu fördern und Informationen zur Bedeutung pflanzenparasitärer Nematoden im ökologischen Landbau zu vermitteln. Folgende Punkte sollen im Rahmen dieses Workshop behandelt werden: Kulturen bzw. Anbausysteme in denen bevorzugt Schäden durch Nematoden auftreten. Einfluss von Standorteigenschaften wie Bodenart, Humusgehalt und pH-Wert. Gibt es Unterschiede zwischen Ökolandbau und konventionellen Landbau? Möglichkeiten Nematodenschäden im Ökolandbau zu verhindern

Effect of plant resistance and BioAct WG (Purpureocillium lilacinum strain 251) on Meloidogyne incognita in a tomato-cucumber rotation in a greenhouse

BACKGROUND The effectiveness of combining resistant tomato with BioAct WG (Purpureocillium lilacinum strain 251, Pl251) against Meloidogyne incognita was assessed in a tomato-cucumber rotation in a greenhouse over 2 years. Additionally, the enzymatic activity of the fungus, the percentage of fungal egg and juvenile parasitism, cardinal temperatures and the effect of water potential on mycelial growth and the soil receptivity to Pl251 were determined in vitro. RESULTS Plant resistance was the only factor that suppressed nematode and crop yield losses. Percentage of egg parasitism in plots treated with BioAct WG was less than 2.6%. However, under in vitro conditions, Pl251 showed protease, lipase and chitinase activities and parasitised 94.5% of eggs, but no juveniles. Cardinal temperatures were 14.2, 24–26 and 35.4¿°C. The maximum Pl251 mycelial growth was at -0.25 MPa and 25¿°C. Soil temperatures and water potential in the greenhouse were in the range of the fungus. However, soil receptivity was lower in greenhouse soil, irrespective of sterilisation, than in sterilised sand. CONCLUSION Plant resistance was the only factor able to suppress nematode densities, disease severity and yield losses, and to protect the following cucumber crop. Environmental factors involved in soil receptivity could have negatively affected fungus effectiveness.Postprint (updated version

Screening of sugar beet pre-breeding populations and breeding lines for resistance to Ditylenchus dipsaci penetration and reproduction

Ditylenchus dipsaci is an economically important plant-parasitic nematode affecting European sugar beets. To date, no sugar beet cultivars carrying resistance against D. dipsaci are available to farmers. To find potentially resistant sugar beet lines restricting reproduction and penetration of D. dipsaci, three consecutive in vivo bioassays were carried out. The first experiment determined the penetration rate of D. dipsaci in 79 breeding lines and 14 pre-breeding populations. Based on these results, D. dipsaci penetration and reproduction resistance of eight genotypes was intensively investigated. It could be demonstrated that none of the genotypes showed resistance towards D. dipsaci. However, a high variation of the penetration rate by D. dipsaci was observed among the genotypes. The breeding line ‘DIT_119’ effectively reduced D. dipsaci penetration (34.4 ± 8.8 nematodes/plant at 22 days post-planting) compared to the susceptible control (109.0 ± 16.9) while ensuring a yield comparable to non-inoculated plants. However, the breeding line ‘DIT_119’ did not reduce D. dipsaci reproduction. The paternal line of the cultivar BERETTA KWS, demonstrating a high tolerance to D. dipsaci crown rot symptoms, did not reduce penetration and reproduction. Thus, no correlation can be established between reduced penetration rates, reproduction, and tolerance to D. dipsaci. This study provides an essential basis for the development of resistant sugar beet cultivars to D. dipsaci. The variations observed among genotypes now need to be confirmed with larger-scale screenings

A time travel through nematology in Germany – From the beginnings to the use of artificial intelligence

Das Nachrichtenblatt für den Deutschen Pflanzenschutzdienst, unser heutiges Journal für Kulturpflanzen, feiert seinen 100. Geburtstag. Seinem Ziel, „den im praktischen Pflanzenschutzdienst Tätigen Belehrung und Informationen (zu) übermitteln“, wie Otto Appel zur Einführung schrieb, ist es bis heute treu geblieben. Dies gilt auch für den Bereich der Nematologie. Die Themen haben sich dabei über die Zeit weiterentwickelt. Standen früher Biologie und Wirtspflanzenspektrum einzelner Arten pflanzenparasitärer Nematoden im Fokus des Interesses, so sind es heute Wirt-Parasit Interaktionen, Resistenz und Toleranz von Kulturpflanzen oder der Einfluss von Klimawandel und Globalisierung auf die Verbreitung und das Schadpotenzial der Nematoden. Der vorliegende Beitrag blickt zurück auf die Themen vor 100 Jahren, stellt am Beispiel laufender Arbeiten am Julius Kühn-Institut aktuelle Forschungsthemen vor und gibt einen Ausblick auf die Themen der Zukunft.The Nachrichtenblatt für den Deutschen Pflanzenschutzdienst, today's Journal of Cultivated Plants, celebrates its 100th birthday. It has remained true to its goal of “providing instruc­tion and information to those involved in the practical plant protection service” to this day as stated in its first issue by Otto Appel. This also applies to the field of nematology. The topics have expanded over time and developed further on an international level. While the main focus was initially on the biology and host plant spectrum of the various nematode species, today it is on host-parasite interactions, resistance and tolerance of cultivated plants and the influence of climate change and globalization on the distribution and harmful effects of nematodes. The present article looks back at the topics 100 years ago, presents current research topics using the example of ongoing work at the Julius Kühn Institute and provides an outlook on the topics of the future

Isolation of Bacteria with Antifungal Activity against the Phytopathogenic Fungi Stenocarpella maydis and Stenocarpella macrospora

Stenocarpella maydis and Stenocarpella macrospora are the causal agents of ear rot in corn, which is one of the most destructive diseases in this crop worldwide. These fungi are important mycotoxin producers that cause different pathologies in farmed animals and represent an important risk for humans. In this work, 160 strains were isolated from soil of corn crops of which 10 showed antifungal activity against these phytopathogens, which, were identified as: Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas spp., Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Pantoea agglomerans by sequencing of 16S rRNA gene and the phylogenetic analysis. From cultures of each strain, extracellular filtrates were obtained and assayed to determine antifungal activity. The best filtrates were obtained in the stationary phase of B. subtilis cultures that were stable to the temperature and extreme pH values; in addition they did not show a cytotoxicity effect against brine shrimp and inhibited germination of conidia. The bacteria described in this work have the potential to be used in the control of white ear rot disease

Estimating the delay between host infection and disease (incubation period) and assessing its significance to the epidemiology of plant diseases.

Knowledge of the incubation period of infectious diseases (time between host infection and expression of disease symptoms) is crucial to our epidemiological understanding and the design of appropriate prevention and control policies. Plant diseases cause substantial damage to agricultural and arboricultural systems, but there is still very little information about how the incubation period varies within host populations. In this paper, we focus on the incubation period of soilborne plant pathogens, which are difficult to detect as they spread and infect the hosts underground and above-ground symptoms occur considerably later. We conducted experiments on Rhizoctonia solani in sugar beet, as an example patho-system, and used modelling approaches to estimate the incubation period distribution and demonstrate the impact of differing estimations on our epidemiological understanding of plant diseases. We present measurements of the incubation period obtained in field conditions, fit alternative probability models to the data, and show that the incubation period distribution changes with host age. By simulating spatially-explicit epidemiological models with different incubation-period distributions, we study the conditions for a significant time lag between epidemics of cryptic infection and the associated epidemics of symptomatic disease. We examine the sensitivity of this lag to differing distributional assumptions about the incubation period (i.e. exponential versus Gamma). We demonstrate that accurate information about the incubation period distribution of a pathosystem can be critical in assessing the true scale of pathogen invasion behind early disease symptoms in the field; likewise, it can be central to model-based prediction of epidemic risk and evaluation of disease management strategies. Our results highlight that reliance on observation of disease symptoms can cause significant delay in detection of soil-borne pathogen epidemics and mislead practitioners and epidemiologists about the timing, extent, and viability of disease control measures for limiting economic loss.ML thanks the Institut Technique français de la Betterave industrielle (ITB) for funding this project. CAG and JANF were funded by the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript