Plants afflicted with clubroot disease are stunted, wilt readily, and might have yellowing leaves.
Can clubroot disease be found in Mexico?
For lots of years, scientists and online databases have presumed that Mexico is home to clubroot, among the primary diseases that impact cruciferous plants (such as kale, broccoli, and cabbage). Up until a group of scientists headed by Mauricio Luna and Legnara Padrón-Rodrguez of the University of Veracruz put on their investigator hats to pinpoint the clubroot pathogen, there was no information to back up this assumption.
Determining the existence of the disease is crucial to preparing for any outbreaks given that Mexico is the fifth-largest manufacturer of broccoli in the world and the main supplier to the eastern United States and Canada. The detection approach was established by Legnara Padrón during Covid-19, which made the authors question what may take place if plants were to get infected by a pandemic in the future.
Working with cruciferous crop growers in Mexico, the technique made up taking soil samples from 3 different types of fields: those that were actively producing cruciferous crops, those that had stopped producing cruciferous crops for up to a year, and those that had stopped.
After cultivating a variety of cruciferous crop plants in the soil gathered, they were effective in drawing out the clubroot pathogen. The roots of contaminated plants showed typical clubroot symptoms, and molecular methods verified the findings.
Now researchers can examine if, as presumed, the clubroot pathogen has actually prevented the development of cruciferous crops in particular Mexican fields. New fields affected by the illness have been contributed to the ClubrootTracker, an online tool established by Dr. Pérez-Lópezs group to trace the clubroot pathogen. Furthermore, their outcomes will substantially improve the future management of clubroot, protecting the cruciferous crops economy in Mexico and the worldwide supply of these essential veggies.
Corresponding author Edel Pérez-López remarks, “Our outcomes unlock to more amazing research, like studying the genome of P. brassicae Mexican isolates, geographic distribution, and its development compared to other North American isolates. The method we followed might assist discover the clubroot pathogen in other geographic locations, or potentially, other soil-borne pathogens.”
This study embodies the importance of listening to growers. Their knowledge, combined with science, can expose answers that improve plant illness management and boost agricultural income.
Reference: “Plasmodiophora brassicae in Mexico: From Anecdote to Fact” by Legnara Padrón-Rodríguez, Carlos Roberto Cerdán Cabrera, Nadia Guadalupe Sánchez Coello, Mauricio Luna-Rodríguez and Edel Pérez-López, 13 June 2022, Plant Disease.DOI: 10.1094/ PDIS-11-21-2607-RE.
The research study was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada..
Now researchers can examine if, as presumed, the clubroot pathogen has impeded the development of cruciferous crops in particular Mexican fields. New fields impacted by the illness have actually been included to the ClubrootTracker, an online tool developed by Dr. Pérez-Lópezs group to trace the clubroot pathogen. Furthermore, their results will substantially improve the future management of clubroot, safeguarding the cruciferous crops economy in Mexico and the worldwide supply of these essential vegetables.