Pathogenic specificity of Austropuccinia psidii to guava plants

• Grant number: 21/11421-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2022
• End date: February 26, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Plant Health
• Principal Investigator: Lilian Amorim
• Grantee: João Vitor Pelizzaro Morales
• Supervisor: Ulrich Schaffrath
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: RWTH Aachen University, Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 21/06683-9 - Morphological and pathogenic variability of Austropuccinia psidii from guava and rose apple, BP.IC

Abstract

The 2-month BEPE internship, to be held at RWTH Aachen University, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schaffrath, aims to complement the results obtained by the scholarship holder in Brazil. The student determined that isolates of Austropuccinia psidii from guava (Psidium guajava), when inoculated onto rose apple plants (Syzygium jambos), an ostensibly susceptible species to A. psidii, did not form sporulating lesions, indicating high specialization of the fungal isolate to the plant P. guajava. Rose apple plants presented necrotric lesions on the leaf blade, but no sporulation of A. psidii was noticed. To understand the causes of the necrotic reactions displayed in rose apple, after inoculation with the isolate of A. psidii from guava, the student will use confocal microscopy techniques. Prof. Dr. Schaffa this expert in histological and molecular studies of non-host plant species to pathogens, with extensive experience in rusts. His laboratory has staining protocols for these fungi, which facilitates the use of the technique to verify the infection and colonization of pathogens in leaves. Many of his project were done on soybean or grapevine rust. This research group is part of the thematic project 2019/13191-5, under the coordination of Prof. Lilian Amorim, to which this scholarship is linked. The internship abroad aims to train the student in confocal microcopy techniques, with samples of experiments carried out in Brazil but analyzed in Germany. (AU)