Effect of abiotic stresses on the progress of rust (Neophysopella tropicalis) in grapevine

• Grant number: 23/02885-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: June 01, 2023
• End date: July 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Plant Health
• Principal Investigator: Lilian Amorim
• Grantee: Lucas Santos Sales
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 19/13191-5 - Epidemiological components, damage characterization and control of tropical and temperate rusts at a global climate change scenario, AP.TEM
• Associated scholarship(s): 23/12802-6 - Vitis labrusca: Neophysopella tropicalis cellular interactions associated to abiotic stresses, BE.EP.MS

Abstract

The occurrence of rust has increased considerably in recent years in various agricultural regions around the world, resulting in various economic and environmental damages. Only recently, research on the effect of the combination of biotic and abiotic stresses, in simultaneous occurrence, on the physiology of cultivated plants are being carried out. Although the individual effects of water and heat stress on the occurrence of Asian grapevine rust (Neophysopella tropicalis) are well characterized, their combined effect has not yet been studied. This project, whose objective is to evaluate the progress and effects of rust on grapevines under different abiotic stresses, belongs to the thematic project "2019 / 13191-5 Epidemiological components, damage characterization and control of tropical and temperate rust in a scenario of global climate change". To achieve the proposed objectives, 'Niagara Rosada' plants will be subjected to abiotic (high temperature and/or water deficit) and biotic (N. tropicalis) stress simultaneously. The disease monocyclic components evaluated in the plants will be the latent period, the lesion density and the disease severity. The urediniospore production per lesion will be evaluated by the end of the experiment. The CO2, stomatal conductance, intercellular CO2 concentration, transpiration and photosystem II quantum efficiency will be evaluated in areas with 2 cm2 of inoculated leaves. The grapevine vegetative development will be evaluated by the end of the experiment by weighing the aerial and root fraction and measuring the leaf area. Histological and histochemical analyzes will be performed on samples of grapevine leaves by the end of the experiment. In addition to the activities carried out in Brazil, an internship (BEPE) is planned at RWTH Aachen University, in Aachen, Germany, where the infectious process and the colonization of N. tropicalis, in grapevine, subjected to different combinations of abiotic and biotic stresses, will be evaluated by confocal microscopy techniques. These evaluations will be useful to characterize the effects of the combination of abiotic and biotic stresses on the host-pathogen interaction.