Annual progress report - Cost 873

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Monitoring Progress Report – 2009 COST 873 – Bacterial Diseases of Stone Fruits and Nuts _________________________________________________________________________________ Planned activities 2010: Screen apricot varieties for Xap resistance in different countries, and develop Smart-breeding tools for such resistance (e.g., QTLs) Protocols for analysis of biochemical characteristics of walnut genotypes to be for developing simple resistance markers will be prepared. STF meeting on host resistance and molecular breeding is planned for February. STF meeting on biochemical markers is planned for Spring. This may involve a Training School aspect. A joint meeting with FAO/IPGIR is planned. Development of a germplasm database for COST873 stone fruit-nut host plants. II.A.e. Working Group 4: Control Strategies This WG‟s aims are to develop, evaluate and implement control strategies linking the deliverables of all WGs for an integrated disease management strategy for COST873 diseases. The main control compounds that are being focused on are biological agents and chemicals (primarily innovative copper compounds). Durability of these compounds is being evaluated in a just established STF to survey for copper resistance in Xap and the walnut blight pathogen. A variety of newly isolated and commercial biocontrol agents are being screened and field tested in PL, CH, ES, IT and TR. Harmonized protocols were published on www.cost873.ch for screening biocontrol agents for efficacy against walnut blight across the COST873 countries was prepared by Spanish partners. A standardized protocol for bactericide evaluation prepared by French partners was published by AFPP (http://www.afpp.net) of the national method CEB (Commission des Essais Biologiques) for pesticide evaluation (for trials conducted for registration of chemicals) against walnut blight. This method was mainly requested to supply the copper products re-evaluation under EC 91/414. The potential of natural plant essential oils for bactericidal activity has been spear-headed by COST873 CZ partners at the Crop Research Institute Prague. Efforts will be made to integrate this line of research with other COST873 countries, providing independent evaluation of these compounds, transfer of this novel technology from CZ, and a training opportunity for CZ ESRs via developing this work with cutting-edge technology in other COST873 labs. Major advances have been made for high-throughput synthesis of novel antibacterial peptides, and screening for antibacterial activity in vitro and in planta. The limited spectrum of activity and limited persistence in the environment make these peptides an extremely exciting development in plant protection chemistry. Two patents have been issued for this work in Spain. Another major highlight of this WG was the complete genome sequencing of two species of highly effective biocontrol agents, Pantoea agglomerans and P. vagans C9-1. This work has involved international industry funding to COST873 partners. Publication and public access is expected in early 2010. Plans are being finalized to sequence a further commercial strain. 18
Monitoring Progress Report – 2009 COST 873 – Bacterial Diseases of Stone Fruits and Nuts _________________________________________________________________________________ An important component of this project within COST873 is to determine the biosafety of this agent. Currently, it is listed as a class 2 bacterium due to clinical reports of human pathogenicity of some strains. A comprehensive MLST, AFLP and comparative genomics was completed for comparison of clinical and biocontrol strains. Phenotypic comparisons, including a range of pathogenicity tests, have been completed 2008-2009 in a Swiss-Spanish COST873 cooperation. Field trials have been conducted in 2008-2009 in Switzerland, Italy and France to evaluate efficacy and risk assessment, and will continue in 2010. This should significantly influence policy decisions in Europe on commercial registration. Planned activities 2010: Continue work on coordinated copper studies across the COST873 countries. Continue cooperative biocontrol strain field trials in France, Italy, Switzerland and include Turkey. Annotate the complete genome sequence of a clinical P. agglomerans strain and complete a sequence for a second biocontrol strain for comparative genomics. Joint meeting with OECD regarding regulatory issues for biopesticides. Screen novel, patented peptides and other novel antibacterial compounds for efficacy against a wider range of COST873 target pathogens. II.B. Dissemination of results II.B.a. Press releases and promotion publications COST873 has an online downloadable Poster which has routinely been used by participants to disseminate not only COST873 results but also promote the COST program in general. This has been presented at a wide-range of National and International venues including Intl Congresses of Plant Pathogenic Bacteria, and ISHS and IOBC Intl Workshops. COST873 research accomplishments, Training Schools, and meetings have received local press coverage with newspaper, magazine and television spots. Several examples are available at www.cost873.ch. II.B.b. Scientific publications 2006-09 (partial list not including over 40 talk/poster presentations of participants at national and international meetings related to COST873 activities) 1. Natalini, E., Scortichini, M. 2007. Variability of the 16S-23S rRNA gene internal transcribed spacer in Pseudomonas avellanae strains. FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 271:274-280. 2. Wang, P.W., Morgan, R.L., Scortichini, M., Guttman, D.S. 2007. Convergent evolution of phytopathogenic pseudomonads onto hazelnut. Microbiology 153:2067-2073. 19
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Annual progress report - Cost 873

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