Genetic diversity in Macrophomina phaseolina, the causal agent of charcoal rot

Macrophomina phaseolina (Botryosphaeriaceae) is an important soil- and seed-borne pathogen. This pathogen has a broad geographic distribution, and a large host range. The aim of the present study was to determine the genetic variation among a global set of 189 isolates of M. phaseolina, isolated from 23 hosts and 30 soil samples in 15 countries. To achieve this goal a multi-gene DNA analysis was conducted for the following five loci, ITS, TEF, ACT, CAL and TUB. Based on these results two well-defined clusters could be delineated, one corresponding to M. phaseolina s. str., for which a suitable epitype is designated. The second clade corresponds to M. pseudophaseolina, a novel species occurring on Abelmoschus esculentus, Arachis hypogaea, Hibiscus sabdarifa and Vigna unguiculata in Senegal. No consistent correlation was found among genotype, host and geographic location, and both species could even occur on the same host at the same location. Although M. pseudophaseolina is presently only known from Senegal, further research is required to determine its virulence compared to M. phaseolina, and its geographic distribution

Reliability of very low-grade metamorphic methods to decipher basin evolution: Case study from the Markstein basin (Southern Vosges, NE France)

International audienceLow- and very low-grade metamorphic studies investigating the alteration and reaction progress of clay minerals are powerful tools to decipher the thermal evolution of sedimentary and inverted meta-sedimentary basins. Sheet silicates such as illite and chlorite are very common in sedimentary basin sequences. They can be used to determine the grade of diagenesis and low-temperature metamorphism as measured through the XRD: illite Kübler-Index (KI; illite “crystallinity” in older literature) and the chlorite Árkai-Index (ÁI; chlorite “crystallinity” in older literature), respectively. Although the ÁI method is considered to be slightly less sensitive than the KI method, a reliable correlation between both methods is often observed in metamorphic domains with a uniform heat-flow history and minor tectono-structural complexity. Complementary to these methods, the K-white mica b cell dimension provides a robust estimate of pressure facies reached in very low- to low-grade temperature domains.Here, we present a case-study from the Markstein basin located in the Southern Vosges. The lithostratigraphic units in the basin are characterized by deep marine flysch sequences of Upper Devonian to Upper Visean age and volcano-clastic sediments, respectively. The Markstein basin is surrounded by granitoids with intrusion ages between 340 and 326 Ma. A previous study showed orogenic deformation characterized by regional folding, and a contact metamorphism found in an outer halo of the granitoids up to 1500 m away from the contact (delineated by the occurrence of biotite). Here we present a multi-disciplinary study combining mineral assemblages, illite and chlorite “crystallinity indices”, and K-white mica b cell dimension. Our approach allows to (i) map in (great) detail the areal extent of both regional/burial metamorphic and contact metamorphic domains; (ii) reveal the metamorphic zonation within both domains; and (iii) better constrain regional/burial and contact metamorphic history. The contact metamorphic domain is characterized by the occurrence of biotite and/or actinolite and low K-white mica b cell dimensions, whereas the zone of incipient orogenic metamorphism yields KI and ÁI values of the high-grade diagenesis and anchizone with intermediate K-white b cell dimensions