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This project is still in progress, but aims to provide the foundation needed to drive clubroot research and resistance-breeding activities across Canada, clubroot will be tracked across the three prairies provinces for occurrence, severity and spread; generation of P. brassicae field isolates from infected roots; monitoring pathotype composition and virulence shifts, including identification of resistance-breaking pathotypes and their prevalence; and providing recommendations to grower and industry groups on emerging issues and pathotypes of particular concern.
Project Summary
Clubroot, caused by the soilborne pathogen Plasmodiophora brassicae, is one of the most important diseases of the Canadian canola crop. The development of canola varieties with effective clubroot resistance requires up-to-date knowledge of P. brassicae distribution and pathotype composition, along with access to well-characterized isolates of the pathogen that represent the most important virulence profiles.
Therefore, this project has four main objectives that will provide the foundation needed to drive much of the clubroot research and resistance-breeding activities across Canada:
(1) tracking clubroot occurrence, severity and spread.
(2) generation of P. brassicae field isolates from infected roots
(3) monitoring pathotype composition and virulence shifts, including identification of resistance-breaking pathotypes and their prevalence
(4) providing recommendations to grower and industry groups on emerging issues and pathotypes of particular concern.
The information and materials emerging from this project, including disease maps, yearly pathotype updates, and characterized pathogen isolates for distribution to other scientists and breeders, will be critical to supporting Canadian clubroot breeding and research efforts, thereby making a major contribution to the long-term management of this disease.
Moreover, given that clubroot pathotype evaluation and surveillance serve as the foundation for so much other clubroot-related research and innovation, the benefits of the project extend more widely to the canola industry in general. This work is critical to shedding light on the clubroot situation at the forefront of the outbreak.
