Sclerotinia Stem Rot of Canola
Dr Adrienne Sexton
GRDC Post-Doctoral Research Fellow |
Anton
J Cozijnsen
Senior Research Assistant |
Dr Soledade Pedras and Dr
Zoran Minic
University of Saskatchewan,
Canada
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Sclerotinia stem rot
is an intermittent cause of yield loss in Australian canola crops, particularly
in high rainfall areas of southern New South Wales. The broad host range of the
causal agent, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, enables populations to persist
and spread easily. Feasible and effective disease control measures are lacking.
Development of such control strategies requires knowledge of both plant defence
mechanisms and fungal virulence processes. The aims of this project are to:
-
Develop tools for molecular genetic analysis of S.
sclerotiorum
We have
cloned, purified and characterised a glucosyltransferase from S.
sclerotiorum, that can detoxify, brassinin, a phytoalexin from Brassica napus. This is the first This is
the first report of a fungal gene involved in detoxification of phytoalexins
via glucosylation.
Selected
publications
Sexton AC,
Whitten AR, Howlett BJ (2006) Population structure of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in an Australian canola field at flowering
and stem infection stages of the disease cycle. Genome 49: 1408-15
Sexton AC,
Cozijnsen AJ, Keniry A, Jewell E, Love CG, Batley J, Edwards D, Howlett BJ
(2006) Transcription profile of genes from three developmental stages of the
plant pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. FEMS Microbiology Letters 258: 150-60
Sexton AC,
Howlett BJ (2004) Microsatellite markers reveal genetic differentiation among
populations of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum from Australian canola fields. Current Genetics 46: 357-65
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