Abstract Detail

Agronomy

Barreto, Robert Weingart [1], Colman, Adans [2], Evans, Harry [3].

Fungal natural enemies of Hemileia vastatrix and their potential for use in classical biological control of coffee rust.

Classical biological control is a well established approach for controlling noxious organism that have been introduced into exotic situations and, in the process, escaped from their natural enemies. It involves the introduction of selected natural enemies from the native range, after detailed safety evaluations are performed. There are numerous examples of projects conducted since the early 1900s. Several such projects resulted in spectacular success mitigating biological invasions of animal pests and weedy plants and permanently resolving major economic and environmental problems caused by such pests. Strangely there appears to be few attempts of using classical biocontrol against plant pathogens. One, mostly unrecognized, example is that of the introduction of Trichoderma stromaticum from the Amazon against witches’ broom disease of cocoa (Moniliophthora perniciosa) in Bahia (Brazil). As this mycoparasitic and endophytic fungus was developed as a biological fungicide (Tricovab) the classical introduction component of this initiative became unnoticed by the majority of the scientific community. In recent years major outbreaks of coffee rust - the major disease of coffee - in northern South America and Central America have provoked a serious and long lasting economic and social crisis. The search for a sustainable method of management of the disease became a priority, providing an opportunity to test the new idea of utilizing classical biological control against a fungal pathogen target. Hemileia vastatrix is a highly specialized pathogen of coffee. As the coffee species, it is also native from Africa. It is likely that as the coffee rust fungus spread from its native Africa to catch up with its host is also left behind its own set of natural enemies, increasing its performance as a pathogen. Reuniting H. vastatrix with its key natural enemies, particularly mycoparasites and endophytic antagonistic fungi, is the aim of an ongoing project started in 2014. Early results of surveys performed in Africa indicate that there are unique endophytic fungi and mycoparasites that may prove useful for introductions in the neotropics. A clearly distinct but diverse list of fungi associated with the uredinia of H. vatatrix was previously known from central America and is being revealed by new surveys in Brazil. These are likely to represent generalist non-coevolved mycoparasites that jumped from other fungal hosts but their study is providing interesting mycological information which will be commented.

1 - Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Departamento de Fitopatologia, Av. PH Rolfs, s/n, Campus da UFV, Viçosa, MG, 36570-900, Brazil
2 - Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Departamento de Fitopatologia, Av. PH Rolfs s/n, Campus da UFV, Viçosa, MG, 36570-900, Brazil
3 - CABI International, Bakeham Lane, Egham, Surrey, TW20 9TY, UK

Keywords:
Pucciniales
Disease management
Coffea arabica.

Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Topics
Session: P
Location: Hall D/The Shaw Conference Centre
Date: Monday, July 27th, 2015
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PAG009
Abstract ID:1235
Candidate for Awards:None