home news forum careers events suppliers solutions markets expos directories catalogs resources advertise contacts
 
News Page

The news
and
beyond the news
Index of news sources
All Africa Asia/Pacific Europe Latin America Middle East North America
  Topics
  Species
Archives
News archive 1997-2008
 

Manitoba, Canada - First report of verticillium wilt on oilseed rape in North America


A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases <http://www.isid.org>

Date: Tue 6 Jan 2015
Source: Real Agriculture [edited]
<http://www.realagriculture.com/2015/01/new-canola-disease-manitoba/>

The 1st North American case of a disease that has caused serious economic losses in Europe's rapeseed crop has been found in a canola field in Manitoba. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has confirmed the 1st known instance of verticillium wilt (_Verticillium longisporum_) on an oilseed plant in North America. The soil-borne fungus has previously been found on other brassica plants, such as cauliflower, in the United States.

The original plant sample was submitted to Manitoba Agriculture in September [2014], with confirmation of the disease in October 2014.

Subsequent testing by CFIA [Canadian Food Inspection Agency] at the undisclosed location yielded positive results for verticillium wilt in both the canola stubble and soil. Stakeholder groups were alerted to the findings. Holly Derksen, Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, says more surveying will be done in spring [2015] to determine how widespread the pathogen might be.

Since it's a soil-borne disease, she says, no fungicides are effective, and there is no known resistance in canola varieties. She notes Manitoba Agriculture is currently developing extension resources for producers.

While there could potentially be trade implications, Derksen says it's difficult to say how significant the impact of verticillium wilt will be for canola growers. "It's hard to know at this point, because we don't know how it got here."

--

Communicated by: ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

[Verticillium wilt of oilseed rape (_Brassica napus_) is caused by the soilborne vascular fungus _Verticillium longisporum_. This species is pathogenic only on _Brassica_ species and has been reported from many continental European countries as well as Japan, the USA and, most recently, the UK. Increasing areas of intense rapeseed cultivation have rendered the pathogen a growing threat to oilseed rape production.

Unlike other _Verticillium_ species, _V. longisporum_ does not induce wilting but premature senescence and ripening, which may severely reduce yields by up to 50 percent. It can survive in dead plant tissue and soil for up to 20 years. The pathogen can be spread with soil, contaminated equipment and plant material (including seed). Disease management is difficult due to the long retention of infectivity of soils and because fungicides are generally not very effective against soil borne pathogens. Use of clean seed and phytosanitary measures to prevent spread between fields are essential. Biocontrol methods are being investigated. Sufficient genetic resistance is not available in oilseed rape, but interspecific hybridisation may provide a resource for developing resistant crop lines.

_V. longisporum_ appears to be a host-adapted pathogen. Other species in the genus specialise in different host families; for example _V. dahliae_ affects solanaceous plants and _V. albo-atrum_ is associated with a wilt of hops.

Since the pathogen has already been present in North America on other hosts, an eventual spread to oilseed rape would not be surprising.

However, a new incursion with plant material from, for example, Europe may also be a possibility. Determining the strain(s) present in Manitoba may help elucidate a possible origin of the infection.

Maps

Canada:

<http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/americas/canada_pol_1986.gif>

Canadian provinces:

<http://www.craigmarlatt.com/canada/images/provinces&territories/boundaries.jpg>

North America, overview:

<http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/na.htm>

 

Pictures

Verticillium wilt symptoms on oilseed rape:

<http://wwwuser.gwdg.de/~instphyt/app/research/vl-sub/vl-fig-01.html>,

<http://wwwuser.gwdg.de/~instphyt/app/research/vl-sub/vl-fig-02.html>

and

<http://www.farmersguide.co.uk/content/img/2012/08/004%20%284%29.jpg>

Fluorescent microscopy of _V. longisporum_ hyphens on rape roots:

<http://wwwuser.gwdg.de/~instphyt/app/research/images/verticillium/vl-root-surface-gross.jpg>

 

Links

Additional news story:

<http://www.agcanada.com/daily/verticillium-wilt-makes-jump-to-canadian-canola>

Manitoba Government press release:

<http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/crops/plant-diseases/verticillium-wilt-of-canola-detected-in-manitoba.html#_ga=1.37175528.95626993.1420675592>

Information on _V. longisporum_ wilt of oilseed rape:

<http://wwwuser.gwdg.de/~instphyt/app/research/verticillium.html>,

<http://www.phytopathology.uni-goettingen.de/?id=302>,

<http://www.bayercropscience.co.uk/your-crop/crop-diseases,-weeds-and-pests/diseases/oilseed-rape-diseases/verticillium-wilt/>

and

<http://www.hgca.com/media/136986/is22_importance_of_verticillium_wilt_in_oilseed_rape.pdf>

Resistance breeding and biocontrol research:

<http://www.regional.org.au/au/gcirc/3/369.htm> and <http://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/abs/10.1094/PHYTO-99-7-0802?journalCode=phyto>

_V. longisporum_ taxonomy:

<http://www.indexfungorum.org/Names/NamesRecord.asp?RecordID=443108>

Taxonomy of all other fungal species via:

<http://www.indexfungorum.org/Names/Names.asp>

CFIA:

<http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/toce.shtml>

 - Mod.DHA

 

A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at:

<http://healthmap.org/promed/p/12>.]

 

[See Also:

2010

----

Verticillium wilt, oilseed rape - UK: spread 20100330.1005

2008

----

Verticillium wilt & sclerotinia, oilseed rape - UK 20080718.2180

2007

----

Verticillium wilt, oilseed rape - UK (England): 1st report

20071001.3239

and additional items on other verticillium wilts in the archives] 



More news from: ISID (International Society for Infectious Diseases)


Website: http://www.isid.org

Published: January 8, 2015

The news item on this page is copyright by the organization where it originated
Fair use notice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Copyright @ 1992-2024 SeedQuest - All rights reserved