Objective
Potato brownrot, the disease caused by Ralstonia solanacearum, is a serious emerging problem in European agriculture, with severe losses recorded in recent years in potato cropping. Several recent reports have indicated that the causal agent, R. solanacearum race 3, may have established in European soil, plant and water systems in various countries of the Union. This proposal by 5 European expert laboratories aims to assess the severity of infestation by the pathogen, as well as the effects of simple non-chemical practical methods taken against it. The project will first fine-tune available methods for the detection, identification and ecological monitoring of the brownrot bacterium. Partners will subsequently perform a European transect study aimed at investigating the prevalence as well as load of R. solanacearum in several European ecosystems. This study will provide information as to pathogen incidence, as well as generate strains which will serve as target organisms for subsequent ecological assessments of fate and persistence. Such strains will also be characterized for their aggressiveness versus a broad selection of potential host plants. In a third phase, the experiments will focus on the fate of R. solanacearum strains selected in the transect study, following a release from diseased potato tubers in soil, its fate should it enter waterways and the potential for a diversity of plants to serve as reservoirs of the bacterium. The capability of the bacterium to enter a viable-nonculturable state, which would escape current certified detection methods will be assessed. Furthermore, the response of R. solanacearum to stressful conditions encountered in soil and water systems, potentially leading to a multiply-stress resistant physiological state, will be determined. The data on ecological fate obtained in soil will be linked to feasible practical measures, i.e. effects of solarization, inundation, covering of fields with farmer's plastic and addition of organic materials will be assessed. Data obtained in water systems will serve to predict R. solanacearum persistence and spread, its potential for growth at low substrate concentrations, and its extinction as a result of the prevailing ecological conditions. A fourth project task will address the potential for development of an antagonistic microflora in selected soil systems, resulting in suppressive soils. An advanced molecular fingerprinting method will be used hand-inhand with a cultivation-based approach, in order to unravel the structure of the microbial communities in suppressive versus conducive situations, and a link will be sought between both data sets. Dominant members of the culturable fraction will be screened for their capacity to inhibit R. solanacearum. The aggressiveness of selected novel isolates will be determined and used in an assessment of the threat these pose to European potato cropping. In addition, an R. solanacearum resistance gene with potential for use in potato will be tested for its capacity to ward off infection pressure by a range of pathogen isolates. The data obtained from the transect study, from the ecological fate studies and from the suppressiveness studies set in the perspective of farmer's measures, will serve to define a set of recommendations (guidelines) useful in the definition of feasible non-chemical disease management practices.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology microbiomes
- social sciences economics and business business and management
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture horticulture vegetable growing root crops
You need to log in or register to use this function
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Data not available
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
6700 WAGENINGEN
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.