Crop rotation with Meloidogyne-resistant germplasm is useful to manage and revert the (a)virulent populations of Mi1.2 gene and reduce yield losses

Aïda Magdalena Fullana; Alejandro Expósito; Nuria Escudero; Marina Cunquero; Pablo Loza-Alvarez; Ariadna Giné; F Javier Sorribas

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1133095

Crop rotation with Meloidogyne-resistant germplasm is useful to manage and revert the (a)virulent populations of Mi1.2 gene and reduce yield losses

Front Plant Sci. 2023 Mar 15:14:1133095. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1133095. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Aïda Magdalena Fullana¹, Alejandro Expósito¹, Nuria Escudero¹, Marina Cunquero², Pablo Loza-Alvarez², Ariadna Giné¹, F Javier Sorribas¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Agri-Food Engineering and Biotechnology (DEAB), Escola d'Enginyeria Agroalimentària i de Biosistemes de Barcelona (EEABB), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, BarcelonaTech (UPC), Castelldefels, Spain.
² Institut de Ciències Fotòniques (ICFO), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Castelldefels, Barcelona, Spain.

Abstract

A rotation sequence of ungrafted and grafted tomato-melon-pepper-watermelon on resistant rootstocks 'Brigeor', Cucumis metuliferus, 'Oscos' and Citrullus amarus, respectively, was carried out in a plastic greenhouse, ending with a susceptible or resistant tomato crop. The rotation was conducted in plots infested by an avirulent (Avi) or a partially virulent (Vi) Meloidogyne incognita population to the Mi1.2 gene. At the beginning of the study, the reproduction index (RI, relative reproduction in the resistant respect susceptible tomato) of Avi and Vi populations was 1.3% and 21.6%, respectively. Soil nematode density at transplanting (Pi) and at the end (Pf) of each crop, disease severity and crop yield were determined. Moreover, the putative virulence selection and fitness cost were determined at the end of each crop in pot tests. In addition, a histopathological study was carried out 15 days after nematode inoculation in pot test. The volume and number of nuclei per giant cell (GC) and the number of GC, their volume and the number of nuclei per feeding site in susceptible watermelon and pepper were compared with C. amarus and resistant pepper. At the beginning of the study, the Pi of Avi and Vi plots did not differ between susceptible and resistant germplasm. At the end of the rotation, the Pf of Avi was 1.2 the Pi in susceptible and 0.06 in resistant, the cumulative yield of grafted crops was 1.82 times higher than that of the ungrafted susceptible ones, and the RI in resistant tomato less than 10% irrespective of the rotation sequence. Concerning the Vi, Pf was below the detection level at the end of the rotation in resistant and 3 times Pi in the susceptible. The cumulative yield of grafted crops was 2.83 times higher than that of the ungrafted and the RI in resistant tomato was 7.6%, losing the population's virulence. In the histopathological study, no differences in number of GC per feeding site were observed in watermelon compared to C. amarus, but they were more voluminous and contained higher number of nuclei per GC and per feeding site. Regarding pepper, Avi population did not penetrate resistant rootstock.

Keywords: Citrullus; Cucumis; pepper; plant resistance; root-knot nematodes; tomato.

Grants and funding

UPC authors acknowledge funding from the R+D+i project AGL2017-89785-R, financed by MCIN and FEDER; and Fondo Social Europeo (PRE2018-084265, AF). ICFO authors acknowledge funding from Fundació CELLEX; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad - Severo Ochoa program for Centres of Excellence in R&D (CEX2019-000910-S); CERCA program and Laserlab-Europe (871124); Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033); and Fondo Social Europeo (PRE2020-095721, MC).