The Viability of Winter Sporangia of Synchytrium endobioticum (Schilb.) Perc. from Poland

Jaroslaw Przetakiewicz

doi:10.1007/s12230-015-9480-6

Abstract

The longevity, infectivity and virulence of winter sporangia of Synchytrium endobioticum, the causal agent of potato wart disease, were studied in soil collected from an infested plot 43 years since the last observed infection. The demarcated plot was located in a mountainous area of the central part of Sudetes Mountain range in Poland and no potatoes were grown in the plots over that period. Sporangia of S. endobioticum were collected from the samples and retained viability after 46 years. Infectivity of the fungus was tested using modified Potocek’s tube test. The ability of the spores to invade and replicate in potato host tissue was demonstrated using sporangia collected after 43 years. The virulence of the obtained isolates was tested with the Glynne-Lemmerzal method. Two different pathotypes were identified: 1(D1), the most widely distributed in Europe and 3(M1), a unique Polish local pathotype, which was isolated and identified for the first time from the same location in 1965.

Highlights

Potato is one of the most important crops worldwide and the fourth-largest food crop, following maize, wheat and rice
According to Pratt (1976), winter sporangia of S. endobioticum were viable if they were filled with greyish granular contents, or not viable if plasmolysed and with no apparent content
Microscopic examinations of soil sample confirmed the presence of winter sporangia of Synchytrium endobioticum

Summary

Introduction

Potato is one of the most important crops worldwide and the fourth-largest food crop, following maize, wheat and rice. Synchytrium endobioticum is an obligate soil-borne biotrophic fungus that causes potato wart disease which is one of the major quarantine diseases in Europe (EPPO 2004). The Polish pathotype 3(M1) of S. endobioticum was first identified in 1965 from diseased plants in southern Poland (Malec 1981).

Results

Conclusion