European Journal of Plant Pathology (2018) 152, 285-295

Fabienne Legrand, Adeline Picot, José Francisco Cobo-Díaz, Olivier Cor, Georges Barbier and Gaétan Le Floch (2018)
Development of qPCR assays to monitor the ability of Gliocladium catenulatum J1446 to reduce the cereal pathogen Fusarium graminearum inoculum in soils
European Journal of Plant Pathology 152 (2), 285-295
Abstract: A qPCR approach was developed to specifically monitor in soils Fusarium graminearum, the main agent responsible for Fusarium Head Blight, and the biocontrol agent Gliocladium catenulatum J1446 (Prestop®). For both fungi, the amplification efficacy of standard curves obtained by mixing pure fungal DNA and soil background DNA was high (qPCR efficacy>96% with R² > 0.97) with a linear range from 10^-3 ng to 10 ng/μL. Our qPCR method allowed quantifying down to 1 μg of F. graminearum and G. catenulatum J1446 mycelium per g of soil. The strong correlation observed between fungal biomass and quantified DNA (R² = 0.9927 and 0.9356 for F. graminearum and G. catenulatum J1446, respectively) supported the use of the primers to monitor both fungi in soils. Under our experimental conditions, the ability of Prestop® to reduce F. graminearum growth was significantly higher in autoclaved soil compared to living soils, suggesting that there is an antagonistic effect of the soil microbial communities. In contrast, G. catenulatum J1446 growth was mostly not affected by the presence of F. graminearum and was able to persist in both autoclaved and living soils after 15 days of incubation. These results indicate that our qPCR approach may be used to assess the success of soil colonization by a biocontrol agent and its control efficacy by monitoring the dynamics of the BCA and the targeted pathogen in soil.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Gaetan Le Floch

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
identification/taxonomy
surveys/distribution/isolation

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Fusarium graminearum
Clonostachys rosea (antagonist)	Fusarium graminearum