Interplay between parasitism and host ontogenic resistance in the epidemiology of the soil-borne plant pathogen Rhizoctonia solani.

ABSTRACT: Spread of soil-borne fungal plant pathogens is mainly driven by the amount of resources the pathogen is able to capture and exploit should it behave either as a saprotroph or a parasite. Despite their importance in understanding the fungal spread in agricultural ecosystems, experimental data related to exploitation of infected host plants by the pathogen remain scarce. Using Rhizoctonia solani / Raphanus sativus as a model pathosystem, we have obtained evidence on the link between ontogenic resistance of a tuberizing host and (i) its susceptibility to the pathogen and (ii) after infection, the ability of the fungus to spread in soil. Based on a highly replicable experimental system, we first show that infection success strongly depends on the host phenological stage. The nature of the dise

SUBMITTER: Simon TE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4134268 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature