Project details
Status: Current
At a glance
- Verticillium wilt disease, also known as ‘Early dying disease’, is an economically devastating fungal disease common in many potato production areas.
- The fungus can persist in the soil without a host for many years as resting mycelia and extremely hard dormant structures called microsclerotia.
- The germinate-to-exterminate (G2E) approach involves a sequence of strategies to exhaust the soil of verticillium wilt fungus prior to planting.
- The research aims to produce a practical non-fungicidal strategy to reduce the impact of this disease on potato productivity.
About the project
Verticillium wilt is a soil borne fungal disease that can devastate a potato crop with up to 50 per cent yield loss. Verticillium wilt infects the potato roots then colonises the vascular system causing the plant to yellow and wilt.
The Verticillium wilt fungus is very persistent and difficult to manage using conventional methods. It remains dormant in the soil for many years by producing tough resting spores. These spores only germinate in the presence of potatoes. The potato roots release chemical compounds or exudates that stimulate the resting spores to germinate, producing short lived mobile spores. These mobile spores are then able to infect the potato roots and cause disease.
This research will investigate the germinate-to-exterminate (G2E) approach to exhaust the soil of verticillium wilt fungus prior to planting. It uses the following sequence of strategies:
- Stimulate the resting mycelia and microsclerotia to germinate in the absence of the potato host, releasing vulnerable short-lived spores.
- Eliminate the germinated Verticillium wilt spores from the soil using crop rotation and soil fumigation
The research
This project aims to identify the root exudate compounds that stimulate Verticillium wilt disease to germinate in the absence of the potato plant and answer the following questions:
- What are the compounds in potato root exudates that stimulate Verticillium wilt microsclerotia to germinate?
- What concentration of root exudate compounds is required to cause germination of Verticillium wilt microslerotia?
- Do different fungal isolates produce different active compounds?
- Do the active root exudates reduce verticillium infection in a potato field?
- Do the active root exudates affect other soil microorganisms?
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Acknowledgements:
Sustainably growing horticulture value in cool climate Australia’ (AS20004) is funded through Frontiers developed by Hort Innovation, with coinvestment from the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, University of Tasmania, Simplot, Premium Fresh, Bejo, Potatoes New Zealand, The Scottish Society of Plant Research and contributions from the Australian Government and contributions from the Australian Government.