Methods to isolate and maintain clubroot for improved resistance screening and labelling

The Challenge

Disease management of clubroot, a disease of canola caused by the pathogen Plasmodiophora brassicae, relies heavily on planting of resistant canola varieties. Unfortunately, the pathogen cannot be cultured outside of the host plant and must be maintained and increase in living plants. “Field isolates” have to be used for resistance screening instead which may produce inconsistent or fluctuating results.

The Project

This study aims to improve the effectiveness and reliability of clubroot resistance screening and labelling, through developing best practices to maintain clubroot isolates in the plant to avoid virulence shifts and optimizing microlaser technology as a fast and efficient way to isolate single-spore isolates for characterization and distribution.

The Results

This section will be updated upon completion of the project.

Grower Benefits

The outcomes of this research will enable more accurate and consistent resistance labels for canola varieties sold in Canada, in the hopes of helping growers be well-informed regarding clubroot management.