Major genetic changes in wheat with potential to affect disease tolerance

ABSTRACT Selection through plant breeding has resulted in most elite winter wheat germplasm in the United Kingdom containing the Rht-D1b semi-dwarfing allele, the 1BL.1RS chromosome arm translocation with rye, and an allele conferring suppression of awns. Near-isogenic lines (NILs) were used to test whether these major genetic changes have had any effect on disease tolerance. The ability of the NILs to tolerate epidemics of Septoria leaf blotch or stripe rust was measured in four field experiments over two seasons. Tolerance was quantified as yield loss per unit of green canopy area lost to disease. There was a trend for the presence of the 1BL.1RS translocation to decrease tolerance; however, this was not consistent across experiments and there was no effect of semi-dwarfing. The awned NIL exhibited decreased tolerance compared with the unawned NIL. There were significant differences in tolerance between the cultivar backgrounds in which the NILs were developed. Tolerance was lower in the modern genetic background of Weston, released in 1996, than in the genetic background of Maris Hunstman, released in 1972. The data suggest that certain physiological traits were associated with the tolerance differences among the backgrounds in these experiments. Potential yield, accumulation of stem soluble carbohydrate reserves, and grain sink capacity were negatively correlated with tolerance, whereas flag leaf area was positively correlated.     

Disease-yield relationship in barley.

The effect of disease on growth and yield of two barley cultivars sown at different times and in different years was investigated in New Zealand. The data were used to develop yield-loss models based on both disease severity (measured as green leaf area) and yield target (estimated by duration of crop growth). Disease influenced yield differently in Triumph and Sonya barley (spring and winter types, respectively), and yield components were affected to different degrees. Empirical yield-loss models for individual cultivars, sowing dates and seasons had different slope values, and the best models were based on measurements of disease at different growth stages. Combined models were less significant and explained less variation in yield than the individual models. Models which included the duration of crop growth as an estimate of yield target improved the fit to the data. Empirical models were specific to cultivar, sowing date and season, suggesting that they were not applicable in the varying conditions tested. The inclusion of estimated yield target improved the general applicability of models, and provided a method of using models in crops sown at different times and in different seasons, without measuring yield target directly.     

白粉菌侵染后田间小麦叶绿素含量与冠层光谱反射率的关系

 本文对白粉菌侵染后田间小麦叶片叶绿素含量与光谱反射率的关系进行了研究。用不同浓度的药液控制田间病害的发生梯度,于灌浆期对不同严重度小麦冠层的光谱反射率进行了测量,同时测定小麦叶绿素含量并调查病情指数,分析叶绿素含量与病情指数、冠层光谱反射率的关系。结果表明,药剂对叶绿素含量无显著影响;受白粉病危害后,小麦叶片叶绿素含量明显降低,抗性不同的品种之间下降速度存在差异,与病情指数之间也有极显著的相关性。绿光波段与叶绿素含量之间的相关性达到了显著水平;基于多波段建立的模型要优于单波段,可以利用绿光、红光波段的反射率估计叶绿素含量。红边参数与叶绿素含量之间也有较好的相关性,其中以红边面积的相关系数最大。     

Nitrogen per unit leaf area affects the upper asymptote of Puccinia striiformis f.sp. tritici epidemics in winter wheat

Field trials tested which components of epidemic development of Puccinia striiformis , the cause of yellow rust, were affected by nitrogen (N) fertilizer applied to winter wheat. Both timing and amount of N were varied to affect canopy size and leaf N content, and to provide a supply of mobile N to the pathogen, by causing fresh N uptake after leaf expansion was complete. No N was applied to control plots. A logistic disease-progress function was fitted to disease-severity data, which were assessed in absolute units. Leaf area and specific leaf N (g N per m² leaf tissue) were quantified. Large and highly significant effects of N on the upper asymptotes, or 'carrying capacities' ( c ) were found. Effects on rates and points of inflection of the epidemics were not significant. Early N resulted in larger shoot numbers and leaf area, but disease was also more severe, so that by grain filling, the remaining green leaf areas were larger without N than with N. Later N treatments did not increase canopy size, but did increase symptom area compared with the control. These effects differ from the concept that N affects disease as a result of its effect on canopy growth, and therefore canopy microclimate, and suggest instead a substrate effect. Linear regression revealed that 51% of the observed differences in c were explained by variation in specific leaf N, suggesting that growth of the rust fungus may depend directly on particular components of total leaf N.     

主要栽培管理措施与黄淮区水稻黑条矮缩病发生的关系

为探明栽培管理措施与黄淮区水稻黑条矮缩病发生的关系,采用田间实地调查法研究了灌水、施氮、落谷密度和防虫网处理对水稻黑条矮缩病发生的影响,并对黄淮区主要水稻品种进行抗（耐）病筛选。结果表明,秧田期减小落谷量和施氮量,发病率最高可分别降低78.5%和77.7%;水稻抽穗前采用浅湿灌溉与深水处理相比,发病率最高可降低70.3%;秧田期防虫网处理与无防虫网相比,发病率最高可降低87.6%;分蘖期不施氮肥处理较过量施氮发病率最高可降低83.5%。黄淮区主要品种抗（耐）病性存在显著差异,抗病和产量性状都较好的品种为新稻20和苏秀10号,而金粳18可能对该病具有较强的耐害性。因此,在黄淮稻区,采用浅湿灌溉方式,适当减少施氮量和落谷量,秧田期采用防虫网处理,并选择抗（耐）病品种,可减轻黑条矮缩病对水稻生产的危害。     

Potential contribution of selected canopy traits to the tolerance of foliar disease by spring barley

A model of canopy photosynthesis and above-ground growth rate was used to investigate the potential impact of several canopy traits on tolerance of foliar disease by barley. Disease tolerance was defined as the reduction in predicted crop dry-matter growth rate per unit of visible disease symptoms. The traits were canopy area (leaf area index, LAI ), light extinction coefficient ( k ) and the ratio of virtual to visible lesion size ( β ). The effects of altering the area of the healthy flag leaf and its light-saturated rate of photosynthesis (P_max) in response to disease elsewhere on the plant were also investigated. The model was parameterized for spring barley and run with a solar radiation and temperature regime typical of north-east Scotland. Predicted reductions in growth rate per unit increase in disease were greatest at high disease severity and when disease was distributed relatively uniformly through the canopy. Tolerance was increased by increasing LAI to >3 and k to >0·3, but the beneficial effects depended on the severity and, to a lesser extent, the distribution of disease. Tolerance was reduced by increasing β . A sensitivity analysis performed at a single disease severity and distribution showed that tolerance was most sensitive to variations in β and compensatory adjustments in area and P_max of the flag leaf, and least sensitive to whole canopy LAI and k . Future research should quantify the genetic variation in these traits within barley germplasm to evaluate the scope for improving the disease tolerance of spring barley.     

Meta‐analytic modelling of the incidence–yield and incidence–sclerotial production relationships in soybean white mould epidemics

White mould (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum) is a destructive disease of soybean worldwide. However, little is known of its impact on soybean production in Brazil. A meta‐analytic approach was used to assess the relationship between disease incidence and soybean yield (35 trials) and between incidence and sclerotia production (29 trials) in experiments conducted in 14 locations across four seasons. Region, site elevation and season included as moderators in random‐effects and random‐coefficients models did not significantly explain the variability in the slopes of the incidence–yield relationship. The Pearson's r, obtained from back‐transforming the Fisher's Z estimated by an overall random‐effects model, showed that incidence of white mould was moderately and negatively correlated with yield (r = ?0.76, P < 0.0001). A random‐coefficients model estimated a slope of ?17.2 kg ha^?1%^?1, for a mean attainable yield of 3455 kg ha^?1, indicating that a 10% increase in white mould incidence would result in a mean yield reduction of 172 kg ha^?1. White mould incidence and production of sclerotia were strongly and positively correlated (r = 0.85, P < 0.0001). For every 10% increase in white mould incidence, 1 kg ha^?1 of sclerotia was produced. The relationship between disease incidence and production of sclerotia was stronger in southern regions and at higher elevation. In the absence of management, economic losses associated with white mould epidemics, assuming 43% incidence in 22% of the soybean area, were estimated at approximately US $1.47 billion annually within Brazil.     

Evaluation of breeding strategies for resistance and tolerance to late blight in potato by means of simulation

A field experiment with three potato cultivars, where plants were inoculated withPhytophthora infestans, was used to parameterize a model of potato growth and blight population dynamics. The model was validated by accurately simulating a field experiment conducted in another year. Sensitivity analysis with the model showed that late cultivars are longer able to maintain a green canopy in the presence of disease, but still suffer more yield loss than early cultivars. The level of partial resistance of a cultivar was more important than its level of tolerance, and other plant characteristics. The model calculations showed that only between 4 and 15% of the yield loss in the experiments was due to accelerated leaf senescence caused by the disease; the major part of the loss was caused by lesion coverage of leaves.     

Steps in predicting the relationship of yield on fungicide dose

ABSTRACT A set of hypothetical steps has been defined, which links fungicide dose to marketable yield, whereby (i) increasing dose decreases symptom area, according to a dose-response curve, (ii) decreased symptom area increases crop green area index (GAI), (iii) increasing GAI increases fractional interception of photosynthetically active radiation, (iv) increased fractional interception increases crop dry matter accumulation, and (v) yield increases, depending on the partitioning of dry matter to the marketable fraction. One equation represented all five steps. By integrating this equation for light interception during the yield forming period and differentiating with respect to the ratio of fungicide cost over yield value, an analytical solution was obtained for the economic optimum dose. Taking published ranges of parameter values for the Septoria tritici wheat pathosystem as an example, yield-response curves and optimum doses were biologically plausible when compared with data from four field experiments. The analytical and empirical results imply that the dose required to optimize economic return will vary substantially between sites, seasons, and cultivars. Sensitivity analyses identified parameters describing specific facets of disease severity, fungicide efficacy, and assimilate partitioning as most influential in determining the dose optimum.     

The combined effects of multiple diseases and climatic conditions on thousand kernel weight losses in winter wheat

Thousand kernel weight (TKW) is a yield component associated with grain quality. It is reported in the literature that TKW is significantly influenced by varieties, agro-ecological conditions and disease indices, but the influence of their interactions on TKW loss has rarely been taken into consideration. The main objective of this study was to examine the combined effects of multiple diseases and climatic conditions on TKW losses in winter wheat. Leaf rust, powdery mildew, and Septoria tritici blotch were considered biotic predictor variables in regression models explaining TKW losses. Monthly averages of temperature, relative humidity and total rainfall in May and June in the 2006–2013 growing seasons were used as abiotic predictor variables. The results of this study indicated a significant low positive correlation between yield loss and TKW loss in the two varieties. TKW losses were less influenced by leaf rust, powdery mildew, and Septoria tritici blotch than yield losses. The significant influence of the interaction between variety and the environmental conditions on TKW loss was confirmed from the general linear model function. The results of this study indicated that factors influencing yield and yield component losses are part of the complex environment, and the relationship between them should be investigated with respect to their interactions.     

玉米丝黑穗病的发生条件与防治措施

玉米丝黑穗病是一种全球性的病害,大多数玉米产区都有不同程度的发生,属绝产性病害,植株一旦得病,几乎颗粒无收。70年代后期,玉米丝黑穗病的大面积发生,逐渐成为限制我国玉米单产和总产提高的制约因素,经我国几代农业科学工作者的努力,对玉米丝黑穗病的症状、病原菌、侵染途径、侵染条件、侵染规律,抗病遗传规律等都进行了大量研究。本文介绍了玉米丝黑穗病的发病症状、病菌来源、侵染途径、侵染条件、生理小种等特性,并提出轮作倒茬、选用抗病品种、抗病弱的品种正确包衣种衣剂、药剂拌土、促进出苗、加强田间管理等相应的防治措施。     

The effect of powdery mildew (Erysiphe graminis f. sp. hordei) and leaf rust (Puccinia hordei) on spring barley in New Zealand. I. Epidemic development, green leaf area and yield

Powdery mildew and leaf rust caused large yield losses in spring barley grown near Christchurch, New-Zealand, in two seasons. Disease present during early growth stages was as damaging to yield as disease late in the season. Moderate leaf rust severities after anthesis were most damaging when combined with earlier mildew epidemics. Later growth did not compensate for reduced yield potential induced by early infection. This was attributed, at least in part, to an effect on leaf size, and therefore on green leaf area, at later growth stages. There was a closer relationship, by regression analysis, of yield to green leaf area than to disease severity in three cultivars.
The three cultivars. which differed in yield potential and disease resistance, were not equally sensitive to disease. It is proposed that high yielding cultivars may be the most sensitive to yield constraint by disease.     

Heterogeneity of peach rust disease progress within the tree canopy

Peach rust (Tranzschelia discolor) is a major foliar disease of peach that can cause severe defoliation. Few epidemiological studies have been conducted on peach rust, and there is no information concerning the spatial distribution of the disease within the canopy. This study aimed to characterise the onset and temporal progress of peach rust in three height strata in peach trees grown in two different orchards: one treated with fungicide and the second non-treated. Evaluations were conducted fortnightly between November and April for two consecutive years. Positional information for the disease within the canopy was obtained by assessing the incidence and severity of peach rust on leaves in both orchards. A linear mixed model with the position of shoots as the fixed effect and cultivars and blocks as random effects was adopted for the data analysis over both seasons, in the fungicide-treated orchard incidence and severity ranged from 60 to 90 % and 0.5 to 2 %, respectively, while in the non-treated orchard incidence and severity ranged from 90 to 100 % and 10 to 15 %, respectively. The area under the disease progress curve was greater for the upper shoots compared to the lower shoots, but the disease progress rates were similar. The logistic and exponential models best fitted the incidence and severity data, respectively. Urediniospores were detected by traps within the experimental area between late winter and early spring. Predominance of autoinfection or alloinfection is discussed.     

Effects of barley yellow dwarf virus on some varieties of Italian, hybrid and perennial ryegrasses and their implication for grass breeders

With the exception of chlorotic streaks in a few plants, a severe strain of barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) transmitted by Rhopalosiplum padi caused no obvious foliar symptoms in 54 varieties of ryegrass when they were defoliated monthly. When defoliation ceased and yellow or red discoloration of the leaf tips was allowed to develop, it was a poor indicator of the seventy of disease effect on yield. Thus, some varieties which developed marked discoloration were less severely damaged than some with little or none While BYDV induced yield significant in some varieties of ryegrass, it increased it significantly in others. In some varieties these BYDV-induced yield increases occurred throughout the year, but in others they occurred in 1 month and were offset by a yield decrease in another. BYDV infection caused a greater yield reduction in roots than in shoots. Even varieties giving increased shoot yield gave decreased root yield. The possible disadvantages of the resulting increase in shoot to root ratio are discussed. It is concluded that breeding ryegrass for BYDV-induced yield increases may be easier and more rewarding than breeding for resistance or tolerance.     

棉花冠层对不同灌水量的反应及其产量形成研究

通过探讨新疆北部棉区推广棉种新陆早6号与新陆早8号,在不同灌水量条件下冠层结构特征的差异性,得出新陆早6号对限量滴灌反应不敏感,而新陆早8号对限量滴灌反应较敏感。因此,在限量滴灌条件下,选择新陆早6号种植较适宜。叶面积指数低,叶片平均倾斜角度大,群体散射辐射透过系数和群体直射辐射透过系数增加,光能的截获率降低,由此得出,不同品种对灌水量的反应表现及理想群体冠层结构的合理指标,为增加棉花产量和提高水分利用效率提供了理论依据。     

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea) response to weed and disease management in northern Ghana

Weeds and diseases can reduce peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) yield or increase cost of production to maintain acceptable yield. While herbicides and fungicides have limited availability in many areas of Ghana and currently are too expensive for resource-poor farmers, control by these pesticides can have a major positive impact on peanut yield. Field experiments were conducted during the rainy seasons of 2009 and 2010 in northern Ghana to determine the effects of herbicide and hand weeding in combination with fungicides on pest management and peanut yield. Peanut pod yield was often more highly correlated with disease severity and canopy defoliation resulting from early leaf spot (caused by Cercospora arachidicola Hori) and late leaf spot (caused by Cercosporidium personatum (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) Deighton) than weed biomass. In some instances, less disease and canopy defoliation were observed when weeds were not controlled effectively compared with increased weed management through hand weeding or herbicide. Two hand weedings or applying pendimethalin preemergence with one hand weeding in combination with 4 applications of triadimefon and chlorothalonil resulted in the lowest weed density and canopy defoliation and often resulted in the highest peanut yield.     

小麦赤霉病特大流行年不同品种(品系)间抗性试验分析

田间对比试验结果表明,赤霉病特大流行年不同小麦品种对赤霉病的抗性存在极显著差异,可分为高感、中感和中抗3个类型。因此,生产上应以中抗品种扬麦158作为当家品种,适当示范种植扬麦11、扬麦13等抗病、耐病性较强、产量较高的品种,并加强测报,适时开展药剂防治,综合控制病害的流行为害。     

Simulation of yield reduction by leaf rust in winter wheat,applied to the analysis of genetic variation in partial resistance

Differences in yield reduction among seven winter wheat genotypes due to leaf rust, as observed in a field experiment, were analysed using a simulation model. In this model, the effects of the disease on crop growth and yield were described on the basis of light interception, photosynthesis, respiration and assimilate partitioning. The model properly described the observed yield difference between the genotypes, both in the absence and in the presence of leaf rust. According to the model, 66% of total yield reduction was due to an accelerated decrease in green leaf area and 18% was due to light capture by dead leaf tissue at the top of the canopy. Genetic variation in yield reduction was, therefore, mainly explained by variation in leaf senescence. Leaf rust did not affect the photosynthetic rate of the remaining green leaf area. Opportunities of selection for individual damage components were assessed from their simulated effect on grain yield, together with their estimated genetic and environmental variance.Samenvatting Verschillen tussen zeven wintertarwegenotypen in opbrengstderving door bruine roest, zoals waargenomen in een veldexperiment, werden geanalyseerd met een simulatiemodel. In dit model werd het effect van de ziekte op gewasgroei en opbrengst beschreven op basis van lichtinterceptie, fotosynthese, ademhaling en assimilatenverdeling. Het model gaf een goede beschrijving van de waargenomen opbrengstverschillen tussen de genotypen, zowel bij aanwezigheid als bij afwezigheid van bruine roest. Van de totale opbrengstreductie werd, volgens modelberekeningen, 66% veroorzaakt door versnelde afname van groen bladoppervlak en 18% door het wegvangen van licht door dood bladweefsel boven in het gewas. De genetische variatie in opbrengstreductie werd zodoende vooral verklaard uit de waargenomen verschillen in bladveroudering tussen de genotypen. De fotosynthese per eenheid resterend groen bladoppervlak werd niet beïnvloed door bruine roest. Respectieven voor selectie op afzonderlijke schadecomponenten werden geëvalueerd op basis van hun gesimuleerde effect op korrelopbrengst, in combinatie met hun genetische en toevalsvariatie.