Sustainable management of root-knot nematodes in horticultural crops by modeling and optimizing resistance gene deployment
Résumé
Root-knot nematodes (RKNs) of the genus Meloidogyne
are soil-borne, little mobile, polyphagous pests
which threaten important sheltered crops such as
vegetables or small fruits. They attack plant roots to
feed and reproduce and have a major impact on crop
yield. Most eco-friendly plant protection strategies
are based on the use of resistant crops. Resistance is
usually associated with a hypersensitivity reaction
(HR), a rapid and localized cell death in the infected
plant in response to a pathogenic attack. In the
family Solanaceae, there are two major
resistance genes (R genes) with different modes of
action : an early HR when the nematode enters in the
root system and a late HR when the nematode creates
its feeding site. The emergence of virulent nematode
variants, which are adapted to the resistance,
challenges the durability of such methods. Because
virulent root-knot nematodes exhibit a reduced fitness
on susceptible crops, combining both resistant and
susceptible plants can help increase the efficacy
and sustainability of resistance-based nematode
control. We carried out a preliminary study to
investigate the best rotations of susceptible and
resistant cultivars over cropping seasons in terms of
yield and resistance durability. The resistance
considered was associated with early HR. For this
purpose, we developed a semi discrete model describing
the plant root growth and nematode population dynamics
within and between cropping season, including the
plant nematode interactions. Our aim in this study is
to implement and compare the action of both R
genes. We will first compare the optimal deployment
strategies of resistant crops for both R genes. Then
we will determine the best rotations based on both
resistant cultivars.