Development of molecular markers to identify different physiologic races of Puccinia kuehnii, the causal agent of orange rust of sugarcane

• Grant number: 17/25455-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2018
• End date: June 30, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Plant Health
• Principal Investigator: Alfredo Seiiti Urashima
• Grantee: Lis Natali Rodrigues Porto
• Supervisor: Philippe Charles Rott
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Agrárias (CCA). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). Araras , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Florida, Gainesville (UF), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 17/14351-0 - Phenotypic and genotypic diversity of Puccinia kuehnii, causal agent of orange rust, at a sugarcane breeding site, BP.IC

Abstract

Resistant genotypes is the main strategy employed in Brazil to control orange rust of sugarcane caused by Puccinia kuehnii. This was the method employed with success to cope the first outbreak of this disease in the world, in Australia. The effectiveness of this strategy is dependent on the knowledge of pathogen diversity, which may be the cause for the different result between these two countries. Moreover, the few studies on P. kuehnii have employed multipustule inoculum instead of single uredia. Initial data employing single-pustule inoculation identified among single-pustules isolates, suggesting that multi-pustule inoculation would be unable to make this distinction. After this first discovery, the next goal is to identify molecular marker capable of distinguishing all diversity of a population. This BEPE's application aims to allow an undergraduate student to take part in Dr. Rott´s laboratory at University of Florida, where the sequencing of the whole genome of P. kuehnii is in progress. If our initial hypothesis is correct, this training will bring the initial finding of the IC scholarship to a more practical application with great impact on the control of orange rust in Brazil. (AU)