Race spectra of Leptosphaeria maculans, the causal agent of blackleg disease of oilseed rape, in different geographic regions in northern Germany

Abstract

The fungal pathogen Leptosphaeria maculans (LM), causing blackleg in oilseed rape (OSR), develops gene-for-gene interactions with OSR cultivars. Thus, virulent races can cause severe OSR yield losses in genotypes that depend only on the major resistance genes. LM race spectra were determined using 644 isolates collected from four OSR growing areas in northern Germany in autumn 2011 and 2012. Avirulence alleles (AvrLm) and race spectra of the isolates was identified with OSR cultivars harbouring the major genes Rlm1, Rlm2, Rlm3, Rlm4, Rlm7, and Rlm9. Thirteen LM races were determined, whereby 85 % of the collected isolates belonged to race AvrLm(5)-(6)-7-(8) (virulent to Rlm1–4 and Rlm9) and 10 % belonged to race AvrLm1-(5)-(6)-7-(8) (virulent to Rlm2–4 and Rlm9). Only six of 644 isolates (0.9 %) showed virulence to Rlm7. Using tester isolates that identify Rlm7, we showed that Rlm7 was absent in the most sown cultivars in northern Germany, explaining the low frequency of isolates being virulent to Rlm7. However, blackleg disease incidence (DI) increased significantly in the cultivar Exocet (harbouring Rlm7) between 2011/12 and 2012/13, whereas DI was the same in a susceptible control cultivar across all sampled regions and years. Our results show that Rlm7 is the only known major resistance gene in German OSR cultivars that is still effective against LM, but increasing deployment in commercial cultivars may foster resistance breakdown in the future.