Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


Coralie Farinas Dissertation.pdf (2.43 MB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Understanding the Powdery Mildew Disease of the Ornamental Plant Phlox: Combining Applied and Basic Research

Farinas, Coralie
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5429-3860
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1594375153330343

Abstract Details

2020, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Plant Pathology.
The characterization of plant germplasm has tremendous potential to help address the many challenges that the field of plant health is facing, such as climate change continuously modifying the regions of previously known disease occurrence. The worldwide trade of the plant genus Phlox represents an important revenue for the horticultural industry. However, Phlox species are highly susceptible to the fungal disease powdery mildew (PM), and infected materials shipping across borders accelerate the risk of disease spread. Through collaboration with laboratories in the U.S., we investigated the genotypic and phenotypic diversity of a PM population to better understand its capacity to adapt to new environments and new resistant hosts. To do this, we developed tools to grow and study PM pathogens of Phlox in vitro, and then used whole genome comparison and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) analysis to study the genetic structure of the population. Additionally, we explored Phlox germplasm diversity to identify a range of plant responses to PM infection by comparing disease severity progression and length of latency period of spore production across a combination of Phlox species and PM isolates in vitro. Consistent with the literature, our results suggest that compared to most plant pathogenic fungi in the Ascomycota, Golovinomyces magnicellulatus, causal agent of PM, has larger genomes (about 130 Mb) with high repetitive content (about 40%) and a fewer number of protein-coding genes (about 8000). We found a lack of population structure and genetic diversity, despite diverse phenotypic responses to Phlox germplasm screening. Interestingly, we identified 7 putative secreted proteins, which are predicted to be involved in the infection process, that are differently distributed between the G. magnicellulatus genomes analyzed. We hypothesize that variation in predicted secreted proteins is at the basis of the differences observed in genetic and phenotypic diversity. Our results also suggest the presence of qualitative and quantitative resistant traits in Phlox germplasm. This research explored the genome variation and evolutionary potential of Phlox PM pathogens to infer durability of host resistance, which are key tools to face plant health's future challenges.
Francesca Hand, PhD (Advisor)
Pablo Jourdan, PhD (Committee Member)
Thomas Mitchell, PhD (Committee Member)
Pierce Paul, PhD (Committee Member)
Jason Slot, PhD (Committee Member)
120 p.
Plant Pathology
Powdery mildew, Phlox, ornamental, plant pathology

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Farinas, C. (2020). Understanding the Powdery Mildew Disease of the Ornamental Plant Phlox: Combining Applied and Basic Research [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1594375153330343

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Farinas, Coralie. Understanding the Powdery Mildew Disease of the Ornamental Plant Phlox: Combining Applied and Basic Research. 2020. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1594375153330343.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Farinas, Coralie. "Understanding the Powdery Mildew Disease of the Ornamental Plant Phlox: Combining Applied and Basic Research." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1594375153330343

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1594375153330343
394
© 2020, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.
Release 3.2.12