Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is one of the largest food crop worldwide, the production of which is also threatened by Phytophthora infestans, the causal agent of late blight. A potential alternative or combined approach to copper treatment is the use of beneficial microorganisms such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). Lire la suite
Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is one of the largest food crop worldwide, the production of which is also threatened by Phytophthora infestans, the causal agent of late blight. In organic farming, copper is used to control the disease. However, it has a long remanence and may accumulate in soil, leading to harmful effects on the environment. A potential alternative or combined approach to copper is the use of beneficial microorganisms such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). In the present study three objectives were pursued: (1) the development of a molecular marker based on the mitochondrial large subunit (MtLSU) allowing inoculum traceability, and it's validation under field conditions with Rhizophagus irregularis MUCL 41833, (2) the evaluation of this AMF on late blight development in the cultivars Bintje and Nicola over two cropping seasons, (3) the assessment of the role of common mycorrhiza networks (CMN) on transfer of defense signals from diseased to healthy plants. We demonstrated that the MtLSU marker was efficient to trace R. irregularis inoculant into the field. This AMF was able to decrease the pressure caused by P. infestans under dry and hot conditions, while under high humidity and low temperatures conditions no effect was noticed. Finally, we demonstrated under in vitro culture conditions the activation of jasmonic acid (JA) or JA/ethylene (JA/ET) pathways defense related genes in healthy plants connected via the CMN of R. irregularis to plants infected by P. infestans within 24 h following infection. In conclusion, our results provided a glimpse on the link between root colonization by a specific AMF strain and its effects on potato resistance to P. infestans under field conditions and raised the question on the ecology of AMF and roles of CMN during late blight outbreak.
Acknowledgement ......................................................................... 7
List of abbreviation ....................................................................... 9
Glossary ....................................................................................... 13
Summary...................................................................................... 15
Outline of the thesis .................................................................... 17
Author's contribution ................................................................. 21
Introduction ............................................................................................. 23
State of the art ......................................................................................... 27
I. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi ........................................................ 27
1. Introduction ............................................................................... 27
2. The AMF life cycle ................................................................... 29
a. Pre-symbiotic communication: the role of root and fungal
exudates .................................................................................... 31
b. Plant contact and colonization .......................................... 32
c. Arbuscules formation ........................................................ 33
d. Late stage of AMF ............................................................ 35
3. Plant-AMF exchanges and symbiosis control ........................... 35
4. Taxonomy, phylogeny and traceability of AMF ....................... 36
a. First step of classification ................................................. 36
b. Molecular classification .................................................... 37
c. International culture collection ......................................... 38
d. Markers for phylogenetic analyses ................................... 39
e. Traceability of AMF ......................................................... 40
II. Benefits and agronomic applications of AMF ............................. 41
1. Introduction ............................................................................... 41
2. Ecosystem services provided by AMF to agriculture ............... 41
a. Impact on plant nutrition ................................................... 41
b. Impact on soil formation and water retention ................... 43
c. Bioregulation of plant development and modification in
plant compounds ....................................................................... 44
d. Abiotic stress alleviation by AMF .................................... 45
e. Biotic stress mitigation by AMF ....................................... 46
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3. Impact of agronomic practice on AMF ..................................... 69
4. AMF diversity in arable soil ..................................................... 71
5. AMF functional diversity and plant breeding program ............ 72
III. Pathosystem .................................................................................. 72
1. Solanum tuberosum ................................................................... 72
a. History of potato domestication ........................................ 72
b. Potatoes genetic characteristics ......................................... 73
c. Potato production .............................................................. 73
d. Market price and pest management cost ........................... 74
e. Nutritional value of potatoes ............................................. 74
2. Phytophtora infestans ............................................................... 75
a. Introduction ....................................................................... 75
b. Life cycle of Phytophthora infestans ................................ 76
c. Sexual reproduction .......................................................... 77
d. Infection models ............................................................... 77
e. Phytophthora infestans molecular marker ........................ 78
f. Potato defense response against P. infestans .................... 78
3. Late blight management ............................................................ 79
a. Introduction ....................................................................... 79
b. Late blight management via copper .................................. 80
c. Integrated late blight management .................................... 80
d. Beneficial microorganism and late blight management .... 81
e. Regulation framework ...................................................... 91
IV. Plant defense ................................................................................. 92
1. Introduction ............................................................................... 92
a. Pathogen recognition ........................................................ 93
b. The "Zig Zag" model ........................................................ 93
c. Plant defense: hormones and genes .................................. 95
d. Systemic plant defense induction ...................................... 95
2. Pathogen-induced systemic acquired resistance (SAR) ............ 96
3. Induced systemic resistance (ISR) by beneficial microbes ....... 97
4. Priming ...................................................................................... 98
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a. Introduction ....................................................................... 98
b. Priming defense triggers ................................................... 99
c. Priming steps ..................................................................... 99
d. Epigenetic part of priming .............................................. 100
e. Primed state ..................................................................... 100
5. Mycorrhiza induced resistance ............................................... 101
a. Introduction ..................................................................... 101
b. Mycorrhiza induced resistance in belowground plant parts
102
c. Mycorrhiza induced resistance and systemic response ... 104
6. Common mycorrhizal network ............................................... 105
a. Introduction ..................................................................... 105
b. Nutrients carrier .............................................................. 105
c. Defense signal carrier ..................................................... 106
Research objectives ............................................................................... 109
Material and Methods .......................................................................... 111
I. Organisms ...................................................................................... 111
II. Study model and experimental set up ........................................ 112
1. Mycelium donor plant (MDP) in vitro culture system ............ 113
2. Greenhouse and Field experiment........................................... 114
a. Pre-mycorrhization of potato sprouted tuber .................. 114
b. Field trials setups ............................................................ 116
III. Organisms assessment ............................................................... 119
1. Density of AMF propagules evaluated by the Most Probable
Number (MPN) method ................................................................. 119
2. Root colonization of AMF evaluated by Mc Gonigle et al.
(1990) method. ............................................................................... 122
3. Late blight inoculation and evaluation of infection under
controlled conditions ...................................................................... 124
IV. Molecular methods ..................................................................... 125
1. Selection of genes for RT-qPCR analyses .............................. 125
a. Reference genes .............................................................. 125
b. Target genes .................................................................... 126
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2. Relative quantification in RT-qPCR ....................................... 128
Research results .................................................................................... 131
Chapter I. Tracing native and inoculated Rhizophagus irregularis in
three potato cultivars (Charlotte, Nicola and Bintje) grown under
field conditions .................................................................................. 133
Chapter II. Impact of Rhizophagus irregularis MUCL 41833 on
disease symptoms caused by Phytophthora infestans in potato grown
under field conditions ....................................................................... 159
Chapter III. Interplant signaling via common mycorrhizal networks
might warn uninfected potato plants from late blight outbreak .. 189
Overview of the Scientific Achievements ............................................ 231
General discussion ................................................................................ 215
Conclusion et perspectives ................................................................... 225
Overview of the Scientific Achievements ............................................ 231
Supplementary data .............................................................................. 231
References .............................................................................................. 251
Annex ................................................................................................. 295