Phytophthora cinnamomi exhibits phenotypic plasticity in response to cold temperatures

Abstract

Phytophthora cinnamomi has recently been found in highly diverse and fragile alpine and sub-alpine environments previously considered P. cinnamomi and disease free due to low temperatures. In the laboratory, we investigated the ability of P. cinnamomi isolates to adapt to cold and cause disease under conditions comparable to alpine and sub-alpine environments. Initially, the ability of P. cinnamomi isolates to produce sporangia at 10°C (2°C lower than previously reported in the literature) was demonstrated in vitro. The lowest temperature limit for host infection was determined (i.e., 8°C) and the phenotypic plasticity of isolates was then explored in planta in two successive phenotypic plasticity experiments comparing cold 9, 7.5°C, and ambient temperature 25 (±5°C). In the phenotypic plasticity experiment-1, three of the five isolates recovered from plants grown at 9°C produced sporangia and released zoospores (infective propagules) at 7.5°C, even lower than determined initially, i.e., 10°C. No changes were observed in the same set of isolates recovered from plants grown at ambient temperature in the glasshouse as a control, which shows that P. cinnamomi can exhibit phenotypic plasticity and responds rapidly to selection pressure and adapts to new environments. Although P. cinnamomi isolates could produce infective propagules at 7.5°C in vitro, they could not be recovered from inoculated plants grown at 7.5°C after 3 months in phenotypic plasticity experiment-2. More work is, therefore, needed to establish disease development by P. cinnamomi at 7.5°C and below.

Integrated Proteomic and Metabolomic Profiling of Phytophthora cinnamomi Attack on Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa) Reveals Distinct Molecular Reprogramming Proximal to the Infection Site and Away from It

“…However, P. cinnamomi has also been found infecting sweet chestnut in Greece [ 2 ], suggesting that its spread may have been vastly underestimated, and that it is most likely already co-occurring together with P. ×cambivora and slowly spreading to the other chestnut stands in Europe. Although low temperatures are a limiting factor for P. cinnamomi spreading into European forests [ 5 ], recent findings in alpine environments and its ability to sporulate at low temperatures in vitro [ 11 ] suggests that colder areas of Central and Northern Europe may be at serious risk of infection. This is of particular importance in the light of evident climate changes and projected future spread of P. cinnamomi [ 7 ].…”

Elevating Air Temperature May Enhance Future Epidemic Risk of the Plant Pathogen Phytophthora infestans

“…In many disease projections developed for global changes in air temperature, the constant thermal biology of pathogens and hosts is used. The site-specific thermal preferences observed in many pathogens (e.g., Phytophthora capsici , Pseudomonas syringae , and Verticillium dahlia ; Allophoma tropica ) [ 35 , 39 ] and many other species [ 33 , 81 ] indicate that this treatment in modeling may be suboptimal. T opt for mycelial growth and fungicide tolerance in P. infestans is ~19 °C [ 41 , 42 ]; however, this temperature for the spore production and aggressiveness development of the pathogen is 10 °C and 22 °C, respectively [ 38 , 82 , 83 ].…”

“…Plant pathogens can adapt to local temperature conditions through either the gradual accumulation of beneficial mutations [ 31 ] or the specific regulation of gene transcription, as expressed by genotype–environment interactions [ 32 ]. These local adaptation patterns to temperature have been documented in many species [ 33 , 34 ], including plant pathogens [ 10 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ]. For example, in Zymoseptoria tritici , isolates originating from warmer regions grow faster in vitro under a higher temperature regime than those from cooler regions, and vice versa [ 10 ].…”

Phytophthora cinnamomi causing root rot on Rhododendron lapponicum and control it using potential biocontrol agents

“…In addition, in the forest where many plants coexist, once the conditions are suitable, it is conducive to develop PRR and aggravates the decline of the forest [26]. In vitro inoculation of the pathogen for pathogenicity identification and resistance, evaluation has the advantage of small workload, simple operation, and so on [26,27]. In this study, P. cinnamomi was identified as the causal agent of root rot and reduction of R. lapponicum in Yunnan province and its diverse host range was studied.…”

“…The characteristics of P. cinnamomi Pci‐1 suggested that it grows efficiently in the OA medium with pH 7.0–8.0 and optimum temperature of 27°C. Before this, few studies suggested that P. cinnamomi has the ability to adapt to coldness and cause diseases at high altitudes and shows plasticity to low temperatures [27]. However, the altitude of Yunnan province is from 76.4 to 6740 m, with a great difference and a high degree of biodiversity.…”