First Report of Myrtle Rust Caused by Austropuccinia psidii in Campomanesia guazumifolia (Camb.) Berg in Brazil.

Campomanesia guazumifolia is a Brazilian fruit tree that has ecological importance and the potential to be explored by the food and medical industries (Lima et al., 2011). In February 2019, in the experimental orchard at the Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Dois Vizinhos city, Paraná State - Brazil, disease symptoms were observed on leaves, stems, and fruits of 22 C. guazumifolia trees. Yellow uredinia were observed on upper side of the leaves, stems, and flowers, which resembled typical uredinia of Myrtaceae rust. The pustules occurred mainly on young shoots, and on flowers, they infected their sepals. Over time, tissues colonized by the pathogen exhibited deformations and mummification occurred in infected fruits. In the orchard, the fungus affected 80% yield. Twenty diseased plant parts (from each of the eleven trees) were collected at different positions in the orchard. One strain were selected as a representative for morphological characterization, multilocus phylogenetic analysis, and pathogenicity tests. The structures observed were epiphyllous uredinia (leaves), united in small groups with hyaline and obovoid or obpyriform urediniospores, which presented echinulate ornaments, germinated pores in the subequatorial and inordinate positions (Cummins; Hiratsuka, 2003) (n = 30, 14.84 x 21.12 µm). The morphology of uredinia and urediniospores was similar to the morphological characteristics of the genus Austropuccinia previously described in Young (2019). For molecular identification, genomic DNA was extracted and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region (White et al. 1990), ß-tubulin (TUB2) and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF) (Machado et al. 2012) were amplified by PCR, and sequenced. Bayesian inference was used to reconstruct a phylogenetic tree, using MrBayes v. 3.2.1 (Ronquist et al., 2012). The multilocus phylogenetic analysis clearly distinguished the isolate APCG001 as Austropuccinia psidii separating it from all other species. The sequences were deposited in GenBank (accessions nos. ITS: ON003418, TUB2: ON568196, and TEF: ON437601). For pathogenicity tests, four healthy branches (20 leaves each) were sprayed with 2.5 mL of (APCG001) uredospore suspension (105 mL-1) and covered with a plastic bag in the orchard. The air temperature ranged from 16ºC to 25ºC. Sterile distilled water was used as a control. Three replications (pathogen and control) were performed on different trees. After 6 days, symptoms of rust appeared on the plants. Control branches did not show fungal growth. The inoculation test was repeated again, confirming the initial results. This is the first report of infection by A. psidii in C. guazumifolia trees in Brazil, causing rust, necrosis, and early senescence in fruits, leaves, and stems. Myrtaceae rust reduces the C. guazumifolia leaf area, affecting photosynthetic production and reducing fruit quality.

Economic versus technical efficiency in using ASM combined with fungicides to elicit wheat varieties with different disease susceptibilities.

Despite the positive results of using elicitors to induce resistance against plant diseases, some factors have inhibited the popularization of their use in agriculture. There is an energetic cost related to the elicitors' induced response which can cause undesired effects on growth under low-pressure disease conditions. Elicitors can create phytotoxicity and show high variation in their efficiency between different genotypes within the same crop; in addition, the positive results related to the induced resistance may not repeat in field treatments, adding to the possibility that they are not economically viable. Thus, we carried out two experiments to investigate the technical and economic efficiency of acibenzolar-S-methyl (ASM) and its association with fungicides in the control of leaf diseases of susceptible and resistant wheat varieties, and as how it reflects on the photosynthetic and production performance of wheat. This study showed the limitations of incorporating ASM into foliar fungal disease control in economic terms. However, it was evident that ASM effectively induced plant resistance against Leaf Rust and Powdery Mildew in the field and can be considered a sustainable option for wheat cultivation. Even though its association with chemical control was not the best economic strategy the use of ASM is a tool that can be incorporated into wheat cultivation to minimize the emergence of fungicide-resistant pathogens due to the diversification of modes of action employed and reduce the toxic residue deposition to the environment and human health.

The effect of inhibitors on photosynthetic electron transport chain in canola leaf discs / Efeito de inibidores na cadeia de transporte de elétrons fotossintética em discos foliares de canola

The mechanisms of photosynthetic electron transport can be elucidated by inhibition of electron flow through the use of specific substances that, when combined with the chlorophyll chlorophyll a fluorescence emission was measured to investigate the effect of several inhibitors of the photosynthetic electron transport chain in canola leaf discs. Leaf discs were incubated in the dark for 2 hours in different solutions: (a) water ­ control; (b) DCMU at 500 µM; (c) phenanthroline at 10 mM; and (d) hydroxylamine at 10, 50, 100 and 200 mM. Similar effects were observed between DCMU and phenanthroline, the initial fluorescence value was altered, but not the maximum fluorescence, with the disappearance of the IP phase. Hydroxylamine interacted and inhibited the oxygen evolving complex and caused an imbalance between the rate of QA reduction by photosystem II and the rate of QA oxidation by photosystem I.

Os mecanismos de transporte de elétrons podem ser elucidados pela inibição do fluxo de elétrons pelo uso de substâncias específicas que, juntamente com a técnica de fluorescência da clorofila, torna-se uma ferramenta importante para detalhar a cadeia de transporte de elétrons. Neste trabalho, a emissão da fluorescência da clorofila foi mensurada para investigar o efeito dos diferentes inibidores da cadeia de transporte de elétrons fotossintéticos de discos foliares de canola. Os discos foliares foram incubados no escuro durante 02 h em diferentes soluções: (a) água - controle, (b) 500 uM de DCMU, (c) 10 mM de fenantrolina, e (d) 10, 50, 100 e 200 mM de hidroxilamina. Foram observados efeitos similares entre DCMU e fenantrolina, o valor da fluorescência inicial foi alterado, contudo a fluorescência máxima não se alterou, havendo o desaparecimento da fase de IP. Hidroxilamina interagiu e inibiu o complexo de evolução de oxigênio e causou desequilíbrio entre a taxa de redução QA pelo fotossistema II e a taxa de oxidação QA pelo fotossistema I.

Baixas temperaturas sobre a fluorescência da clorofila a em plantas de diferentes híbridos de canola / Low temperatures on chlorophyll a fluorescence in plants of different canola hybrids

O objetivo do trabalho foi estudar os efeitos de baixas temperaturas sobre o aparato fotossintético de híbridos de canola. Plantas de canola foram cultivadas em casa de vegetação e, 50 dias após a semeadura, acondicionadas em câmara de crescimento com ausência de luz, onde foram submetidas a temperaturas de 0 ou 4oC pelo período de 1 ou 4 horas. Avaliou-se a cinética de emissão da fluorescência da clorofila a. Os híbridos apresentaram o mesmo comportamento em relação à fluorescência da clorofila em resposta ao estresse. Os parâmetros da fluorescência foram amplamente afetados em todos os tratamentos e a análise da cinética revelou efeitos da temperatura, principalmente no passo J, que representa o acúmulo de plastoquinona reduzida e na fase I-P, que reflete a redução dos aceptores de elétrons finais do lado aceptor do fotossistema I. Conclui-se que os parâmetros mais responsivos às condições impostas pelo frio são os que descrevem o grau de reoxidação do aceptor final de elétrons do fotossistema II e a atividade do fotossistema I.

The objective of this research was to study the effects of low temperatures on the photosynthetic apparatus of canola hybrids. Oilseed rape plants were grown in a greenhouse and, 50 days after sowing, placed in a growth chamber with absence of light which were subjected to different periods of low temperatures: 0 or 4oC during 1 or 4 hours. The kinetics of emission of chlorophyll fluorescence was evaluated. The hybrids showed the same behavior in relation to chlorophyll fluorescence in response to stress. The parameters of fluorescence related to the activity of the photosystem were largely affected in all treatments. The analysis of the kinetics showed temperature effects, mainly at the J step which reflects the accumulation of reduced plastoquinone and the I-P phase reflecting the reduction of end electron acceptors at the photosystem I acceptor side. It was concluded that the parameters more responsive to conditions imposed by cold are describing the degree of reoxidation of the final electron acceptor of photosystem II and activity of photosystem I.

Atividade fotossintética em plantas de ameixeira submetidas ao déficit hídrico e ao alagamento / Photosynthetic activity in japanese plum under water deficit and flooding

O objetivo no presente trabalho foi avaliar o impacto do déficit hídrico e do alagamento na atividade fotossintética de ameixeiras cultivar 'América'. Foram analisadas a fluorescência da clorofila a e as trocas gasosas em plantas de aproximadamente 12 meses, cultivadas em casa de vegetação. As análises foram iniciadas dois dias após do início do déficit hídrico e um dia após o início do alagamento, totalizando quatro avaliações durante a manutenção dos estresses. A fotossíntese líquida foi reduzida pela limitação estomática em ambos os estresses. A condição de restrição hídrica não alterou o rendimento quântico máximo fotoquímico. Os índices de performance fotossintético revelaram diferenças entre os estresses, caracterizando as plantas de ameixeira, cv. 'América', como mais suscetíveis ao déficit hídrico do que ao alagamento.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of drought and flooding on the photosynthetic activity of Japanese plum (Prunus salicina Lindh), cultivar 'America'. We analyzed the chlorophyll fluorescence and leaf gas exchange in plants, with approximately 12 months, grown in greenhouse and subjected to water deficit. Analyses were initiated two days after the onset of drought and one day after the flooding, resulting in four evaluations during the maintenance of stress. Net photosynthesis was reduced by stomatal limitation in both stresses. The condition of water restriction did not alter the maximum quantum yield. The photosynthetic performance indexes showed differences between stresses, featuring the plants of plum cv America as the most susceptible to drought than flooding.