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Chen A, Morrison S, Gregson A, Le DP, Urquhart AS, Smith LJ, Aitken EAB, Gardiner DM. Fluorescently Tagged Verticillium dahliae to Understand the Infection Process on Cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum) and Weed Plant Species. Pathogens 2024; 13:442. [PMID: 38921740 PMCID: PMC11207081 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens13060442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2024] [Revised: 05/11/2024] [Accepted: 05/22/2024] [Indexed: 06/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Verticillium wilt is a soil-borne disease caused by distinct vegetative compatibility groups (VCG) of the fungus Verticillium dahliae. Defoliating (VCG 1A) and non-defoliating (VCG 2A) pathotypes of V. dahliae have contributed to yield losses of cotton production in Australia. To study the virulence and the infection process of V. dahliae on cotton, two isolates, one representing each VCG, have been transformed with fluorescent protein genes. The transformants maintained their ability to infect the host, and both strains were observed to move through the plant vasculature to induce wilt symptoms. Furthermore, virulence testing suggests that the cotton V. dahliae strains can endophytically colonise common weed plant species found in the Australian landscape, and that is contrasted by their ability to infect and colonise native tobacco plants. The fluorescently labelled strains of V. dahliae not only allowed us to gain a thorough understanding of the infection process but also provided a method to rapidly identify recovered isolates from host colonisation studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Chen
- School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia; (S.M.); (A.G.)
| | - Sabrina Morrison
- School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia; (S.M.); (A.G.)
- Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Aphrika Gregson
- School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia; (S.M.); (A.G.)
- New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Orange, NSW 2800, Australia
| | - Duy P. Le
- New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Narrabri, NSW 2390, Australia;
| | - Andrew S. Urquhart
- Applied Biosciences, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Linda J. Smith
- EcoSciences Precinct, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Dutton Park, QLD 4102, Australia;
| | - Elizabeth A. B. Aitken
- School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia; (S.M.); (A.G.)
| | - Donald M. Gardiner
- Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
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Le DP, Nguyen CPT, Kafle D, Scheikowski L, Montgomery J, Lambeth E, Thomas A, O’Keeffe K, Shakeshaft B, Young A, Mckay A, Twine A, Hudson E, Jackson R, Smith LJ. Surveillance, Diversity and Vegetative Compatibility Groups of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum Collected in Cotton Fields in Australia (2017 to 2022). Pathogens 2022; 11:1537. [PMID: 36558871 PMCID: PMC9783871 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens11121537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2022] [Revised: 12/06/2022] [Accepted: 12/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) is a billion-dollar crop in regional New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland, Australia. Fusarium wilt (FW) caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum (Fov) is an economically important disease. Initial disease losses of up to 90% when the disease was first detected resulted in fields being taken out of cotton production. The disease is now well-managed due to the adoption of highly resistant varieties. However, annual disease surveys recently revealed that the disease dynamic has changed in the past few seasons. With relatively mild and wet weather conditions during the 2021/22 growing season, FW was detected in eight surveyed valleys in NSW and Queensland, with the disease incidence as high as 44.5% and 98.5% in individual fields in early and late seasons, respectively. Fov is genetically distinct and evolved from local Fusarium oxysporum strains. Additionally, the pathogen was reported to evolve rapidly under continuous cotton cropping pressure. However, our knowledge of the genetic composition of the prevailing population is limited. Sequences of the translation elongation factor alpha 1 (TEF1) revealed that 94% of Fusarium isolates recovered from FW-infected cotton were clustered together with known Australian Fov and relatively distant related to overseas Fov races. All these isolates, except for nine, were further confirmed positive with a specific marker based on the Secreted in Xylem 6 (SIX6) effector gene. Vegetative compatibility group (VCG) analyses of 166 arbitrarily selected isolates revealed a predominance of VCG01111. There was only one detection of VCG01112 in the Border Rivers valley where it was first described. In this study, the exotic Californian Fov race 4 strain was not detected using a specific marker based on the unique Tfo1 insertion in the phosphate (PHO) gene. This study indicated that the prevalence and abundance of Fov across NSW and Queensland in the past five seasons was probably independent of its genetic diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duy P. Le
- New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Narrabri, NSW 2390, Australia
| | - Chi P. T. Nguyen
- New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Narrabri, NSW 2390, Australia
| | - Dinesh Kafle
- Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Dutton Park, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Linda Scheikowski
- Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia
| | | | | | | | | | - Beth Shakeshaft
- New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Yanco, NSW 2703, Australia
| | - Alison Young
- New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Yanco, NSW 2703, Australia
| | | | | | - Elsie Hudson
- Cotton Research and Development Corporation, Goondiwindi, QLD 4390, Australia
| | - Rodney Jackson
- New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Narrabri, NSW 2390, Australia
| | - Linda J. Smith
- Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Dutton Park, QLD 4102, Australia
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