The effect of temperature on bacterial infection of bean
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Department Name: Interdisciplinary Bioscience DTP
Abstract
Bacterial diseases are an increasing threat to both commercial and subsistence crop production. Despite this, little is known about the impact of environmental conditions on disease development and severity. In particular, temperature responses are rarely studied. The three most common bacterial pathogens of bean -halo blight, common blight and brown spot- are known to have different temperature optima, and this in turn affects the yield loss they cause. In this project, we aim to characterise the effects of temperature on the three pathogens, and how this affects their interaction in plants. We also propose to investigate candidate factors that are likely to be involved in the temperature and interaction responses of those pathogens. Altogether, this research project should allow us to better understand plant-pathogen systems, which will eventually allow us to design sustainable strategies for disease control in fields.
BBSRC keywords
- Sustainably enhancing agricultural production
- Global Food Security
BBSRC keywords
- Sustainably enhancing agricultural production
- Global Food Security
| Description | Characterising the environmental responses of bacterial pathogens of bean isolates from South Africa |
| Organisation | Agricultural Research Council (ARC) |
| Country | South Africa |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | We've been studying various traits of interest: phytotoxin production, H2O2 resistance, mobility and temperature responses in both lab isolates and more modern isolates of the bacterial bean pathogens. We hope to link some of those traits to our collaborator's observations of disease progression in the field. During the pandemic we took a bioinformatics approach, and we are currently working on linking genomic data with phenotypic characteristics of the Sth African strains. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr Deidre Fourie from the ARC isolated, identified and race-typed bacterial isolates extracted from diseased bean plants grown in fields in South Africa. She sent us a collection of such isolates for further work. She also contributed to this project through her observations of environmental effects on disease progression in the field. Please refer to Fourie (2003) "Distribution and Severity of Bacterial Diseases on Dry Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in South Africa" Journal of Phytopathology for further details of her observations. Dr Leighton Pritchard from the University of Strathclyde is an expert in bioinformatics. He has been providing support and guidance on bioinformatics analyses of genomic data of field strains isolated by Dr Fourie's Team. |
| Impact | This is still an ongoing project, we will report back on the outcomes later. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Characterising the environmental responses of bacterial pathogens of bean isolates from South Africa |
| Organisation | University of Strathclyde |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We've been studying various traits of interest: phytotoxin production, H2O2 resistance, mobility and temperature responses in both lab isolates and more modern isolates of the bacterial bean pathogens. We hope to link some of those traits to our collaborator's observations of disease progression in the field. During the pandemic we took a bioinformatics approach, and we are currently working on linking genomic data with phenotypic characteristics of the Sth African strains. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr Deidre Fourie from the ARC isolated, identified and race-typed bacterial isolates extracted from diseased bean plants grown in fields in South Africa. She sent us a collection of such isolates for further work. She also contributed to this project through her observations of environmental effects on disease progression in the field. Please refer to Fourie (2003) "Distribution and Severity of Bacterial Diseases on Dry Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in South Africa" Journal of Phytopathology for further details of her observations. Dr Leighton Pritchard from the University of Strathclyde is an expert in bioinformatics. He has been providing support and guidance on bioinformatics analyses of genomic data of field strains isolated by Dr Fourie's Team. |
| Impact | This is still an ongoing project, we will report back on the outcomes later. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | An accessible outreach initiative on the impact of Dutch Elm Disease in Oxford |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The year 2021 may have been dominated by a human pandemic but it also marked the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the causal agent of Dutch Elm Disease, a pandemic of Elm trees. Dutch Elm Disease is a fascinating topic of research and a great opportunity for science outreach for three main reasons in my opinion: - Dutch Elm Disease was a very severe pandemic of elm trees that quickly spread via timber import/export and almost wiped out English elms Ulmus procera, so it exemplifies the importance of research on plant pathogens for biodiversity. - The first wave of Dutch Elm Disease in Europe happened in the 1920s, which is long ago enough to be able to reflect on the measures that were taken to control the spread of the disease. A second wave of a more severe variant of Dutch Elm Disease occurred around the 1960s, a timeframe which means that many people in the UK would have experienced the massive tree fellings that ensued and the drastic changes to the landscape. We hoped that linking scientific information to the population's memory of this epidemic would tie in a generational gap and allow us to engage with an older audience than usual - as most outreach is targeted at young children and teens. Raising awareness of plant diseases is not just about recruiting the future leaders of our field, it is also important to make information more readily available to everyone to reduce the spread of plant diseases and pests. As such we dedicated part of our project to bring attention to DEFRA's recommendations for travelling. - It was named Dutch Elm Disease because it was first discovered in the Netherlands by a group of Dutch female researchers: Dr Marie Beatrice Schol-Schwarz, Dr Christine Buisman, and Prof Johanna Westerdijk. Women in science were still outnumbered at the time but their contribution to our field was substantial so this presents a good opportunity to highlight more diverse role models to aspiring scientists. Prof Westerdijk was actually the first woman to be appointed professor in the Netherlands in 1917. As part of my DTP internship, I received a BSPP Plant Pathology Promotion Fund for disseminating knowledge of Dutch Elm Disease at the Harcourt Arboretum in Oxford, with a strong focus on making this an exercise in accessibility. I developed a trio of lectern-styled information boards that are semi-permanently displayed at strategic locations in the arboretum: 1. Dutch Elm Disease: The biggest tree pandemic of the 20th century - a board focused on the science underlying Dutch Elm Disease and the impact it had in England when it was first discovered. Scientific terms are introduced but the key take-home message is that plant diseases can be extremely severe and so should be actively monitored. We also commissioned a scientific illustration of the lifecycle of Dutch Elm Disease (art by Rosemary Wise), which is available for download from our website. 2. Dutch Elm Disease: Is it still a problem? Should we be worried? - in which I introduce concepts such as resistance breeding and hybridisation. We lead the readers to reach the conclusion that it is very difficult to control a plant epidemic once it is introduced, which leads us to encourage the general public to follow DEFRA recommendations for preventing introduction of plant pathogens and pests. 3. Dutch Elm Disease in Oxford - to highlight the drastic impact of Dutch Elm Disease on our landscapes I gathered before and after photo comparisons of well-known areas of Oxford. I found many interesting pictures and reports dating back to both waves of the epidemic in the archives of Christ Church College, Magdalen College, the Bodleian and the Curators of the Parks (Oxford, UK). Altogether, my research has led me to liaise with over 70 organisations, ranging from the European commission to local parishes, and it is evident that Dutch Elm Disease has had a large and lasting impact on the history of Oxford as a whole. It is hard to estimate how successful this outreach was. Because of the pandemic and associated social distancing measures, I could not give guided tours to the general public as was initially planned. Fortunately, the arboretum stayed open for visitors through most of the pandemic, and received a record 122,071 visitors in 2021, many of which will have seen and engaged with the boards. These boards will continue to be on display in the next few years so there is plenty of opportunity to reach a wide audience.Furthermore, we promoted public engagement using social media and digital resources. For instance, I made the boards accessible online together with a specially designed children's activity booklet and other striking images of Dutch Elm Disease that did not make it into the final information boards (https://preston.web.ox.ac.uk/dutch-elm-disease). With the help of some colleagues, we promoted the boards on twitter during Plant Health Week in 2021. This also gave us a measure of the impact of our outreach efforts. According to twitter analytics, our tweet about Dutch Elm Disease was seen by 2600 other twitter accounts. As part of this project, I developed a series of vlogs (video blogs) where you can follow my progress. These videos are hosted by BSPP and can be found here: https://www.bspp.org.uk/julianna-piat-talks-dutch-elm-disease/ . In these vlogs I discuss the resources I relied on, and the planning that went into making these boards. One of the aims of this outreach project was to make science as accessible to the general public as possible. In fact, we decided to treat this outreach project as an exercise in improving accessibility of science outreach. Because information boards tend to be very visual, we commissioned an audio-describer to ensure that visually impaired and partially sighted visitors of the arboretum could still engage with the boards. The information boards were placed at an angle and height which makes them suitable to be read by children and people in wheelchairs as well as standing adults. We are looking to continue to improve accessibility of our research and science communication. To celebrate the installation of the information boards and the 200th anniversary of the discovery of Dutch Elm Disease, the arboretum team planted a resistant elm breed (Wingham) next to the last board of the trio. This new elm tree is now well established and thriving in the arboretum. Perhaps it can support the fauna of the arboretum for many decades to come. I have written a newsletter article on this topic for the butterfly conservation association who tell me that many such resistant elms have recently been planted by rangers at Lyme Park in Cheshire as part of their efforts to protect the White letter hairstreak butterfly, a species strongly reliant on elms for breeding grounds. It takes a village to get an outreach project off the ground and so I would like to thank all that have helped and offered advice along the way. Special thanks to the co-organisers Dr Lauren Chappell, Prof Gail Preston, Ben Jones, Franco Santarsieri and Chris Thorogood, and consultants Rosemary Wise, William Piat and my lab colleagues for their input. The BSPP and UKRI-BBSRC have generously funded this project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| URL | https://preston.web.ox.ac.uk/dutch-elm-disease |