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Microsatellite loci reveal distinct populations with high diversity for the pathogenic fungus Pseudocercospora ulei from North-Western Amazonia

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Abstract

South American Leaf Blight (SALB) is caused by the Ascomycota fungus Pseudocercospora ulei. This disease is recognized as the main threat to Hevea brasiliensis plantations and the major phytosanitary challenge for the rubber industry in Latin America. Despite this, little is known about the pathogen’s genetic diversity and population structure in rubber-producing areas. Characterizing diversity in pathogen populations is essential for understanding their adaptation potential. This information is necessary for developing resistance improvement programs, as it helps estimate Hevea’s durable resistance. With this in mind, we characterized P. ulei’s genetic diversity and population structure in the northwest of Colombia’s Amazon. We used eight microsatellite loci (SSR) to evaluate the pathogens’ populations. Samples were obtained from four high-SALB incidence locations planted with the susceptible clone IAN 873. We found high genetic diversity in P. ulei populations. Although there is no evidence showing that sexual reproduction occurs in Caquetá’s P. ulei populations, our results suggest that, to some extent, genetic recombination is happening, as is the case for other Pseudocercospora species. Our findings support the idea that while asexual conidia are responsible for propagation within plantations, ascospores play a role in establishing P.ulei populations. More research is necessary to test this idea. Moreover, population structure correlated with different environmental conditions for both clone-corrected (Mantel statistic R = 0.053, p = 0.010) and non-clone-corrected data (Mantel statistic R = 0.060, p = 0.001) suggesting, that climate conditions might be contributing to P. ulei diversification. These results highlight the need to develop rubber plantations’ management strategies to reduce pathogen’s genetic diversity. This study is the first characterization of P. ulei populations in Colombia and thus, will provide crucial information for the H. brasiliensis resistance improvement program in the region.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the project: “Ampliación de la base genética de caucho natural, Caquetá, Amazonia” for financing this study. The study was supported by Fondo de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación – FCTel del Sistema General de Regalías –SGR - Contract No. 59 -2013 - Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas SINCHI - Gobernación del Caquetá. The project was co-executed by Universidad de la Amazonia and Asociación de Reforestadores y Cultivadores de Caucho del Caquetá (ASOHECA).

Funding

This study was funded by Fondo de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación – FCTel del Sistema General de Regalías –SGR - Contract No. 59–2013 - Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas SINCHI – the Gobernación del Caquetá – the Universidad de la Amazonia, and the Asociación de Reforestadores y Cultivadores de Caucho del Caquetá ASOHECA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Micología y Fitoprotección, Universidad de la Amazonía, Florencia, 180001, Colombia

    Ginna Patricia Velasco-Anacona

  2. Laboratorio de Fitopatología, Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas Sinchi - Universidad de la Amazonía, Facultad de Ciencias Básicas, Florencia, 180001, Colombia

    Ginna Patricia Velasco-Anacona & Armando Sterling

  3. Laboratorio de Genómica y Biología Molecular, Universidad de la Amazonía, Florencia, 180001, Colombia

    Ginna Patricia Velasco-Anacona & Alejandro Reyes-Bermúdez

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  1. Ginna Patricia Velasco-Anacona
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  2. Armando Sterling
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  3. Alejandro Reyes-Bermúdez
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by GPV-A, AS and AR-B. The first draft of the manuscript was written by GPV-A and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Alejandro Reyes-Bermúdez.

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Supplementary material

Online resource 1

Isolate Information (DOCX 33 kb)

Online resource 2

Loci characterization (DOCX 14 kb)

Online resource 3

List of alleles found in eight microsatellite loci (SSR) evaluated in 100 P. ulei isolates from four H. brasiliensis clonal fields in the department of Caquetá, Colombian Amazon. (DOCX 34 kb)

Online resource 4

Probability of the occurrence and repeated occurrence of multilocus haplotypes (MLH) in the Pseudocercospora ulei dataset. (DOCX 25 kb)

Online resource 5

Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA). (DOCX 14 kb)

Online resource 6

Delta K values of the 80 haplotypes of P. ulei. (DOCX 133 kb)

Online resource 7

Rarefaction curve to calculate the expected multilocus genotypes (eMLG) in five Pseudocercospora ulei populations from Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, French Guiana (Barres et al., 2012) and Colombia. (DOCX 130 kb)

Online Resource 8

Indices of genetic diversity of Pseudocercospora ulei populations from Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, French Guiana (Barres et al., 2012) and Colombia. (DOCX 16 kb)

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Velasco-Anacona, G.P., Sterling, A. & Reyes-Bermúdez, A. Microsatellite loci reveal distinct populations with high diversity for the pathogenic fungus Pseudocercospora ulei from North-Western Amazonia. Eur J Plant Pathol 163, 827–839 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-022-02520-y

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