Eva Edin

I have worked on fungal diseases in potato, one of which in association with free-living nematodes, for several years now. The nematode project is in collaboration with Maria Viketoft, Dept. of Ecology, and we analyse if there are any correlations between free-living nematodes and the fungus Rhizoctonia solani, which causes stem canker and black scurf etc. The other disease that I focus on is early blight that is caused by Alternaria solani. An important part of the project is to analyse the sensitivity towards fungicides based on strobilurins.

I have realised that potato is a very important and complex crop and that good skills of the growers are needed for a tasteful ware potato. I collect in both organic and conventional field which means that I get to meet several interesting people, extension workers and representatives from the industry included. I like to teach at the plant pathology courses which keeps me updated and widens my knowledge about the other crops and what diseases they may suffer from. I also supervise master students and a post-doc, which also contribute to the expansion of my knowledge. Life is a constant learning and the curiosity is the substratum of development.

Sometime I teach at the plant pathology course

The project regarding early blight was for several years made in cooperation with Björn Andersson and since 2014 together with Erland Liljeroth and Firuz Odilbekov at SLU, Alnarp. The aim of the project is to investigate the distribution of the causal agent Alternaria solani and the genetic diversity within the fungal population, including the genetic substitution associated with loss of sensitivity against fungicides based on strobilurins.

The epidemics are often more severe in the southeastern part of Sweden but occur also in the Middle part of Sweden and along the northern coast of the Baltic Sea. Early blight is often controlled by fungicides based on strobilurins. Outbreaks have been observed despite repeated applications. The fungus has two different mitochondrial genotypes: genotype 1 (GI) and genotype 2 (GII).  The latter one is more common in southeastern and middle parts of Sweden and often possesses the substitution F129L that leads to tolerance to strobilurins. Species identification in combination with strobilurin sensitivity is analysed using DNA-based molecular diagnostic methods (sequencing of DNA). We have also started to analyse the tolerance against SDHI-fungicides. The genetic structure of the population is analysed using AFLP or SSR (microsatellites).  The fungal population if five fields in southeastern part of Sweden revealed a surprisingly high genetic diversity for a fungus assumed to have only asexual reproduction. We are now continuing with samples from all potato growing area, including some from Finland, Norway and Åland.  The project is financed by The Swedish Farmers’ Foundation for Agricultural Research and the Swedish Board of Agriculture.

In 2012, the project “Correlations between potato stem canker and free-living nematodes” started which is a collaboration with Maria Viketoft, Dept. of Ecology. Stem canker and other damages caused by the pathogenic fungus Rhizoctonia solani is a major problem for potato cultivation throughout the country, especially as it leads to great economic losses. In collaboration with advisors, farmers and other researchers we developed a hypothesis that there is a connection between the severity of stem canker and free-living nematodes.  Investigations of the abundances of free-living nematodes showed a high occurrence of stubby root and root-lesion nematodes in fields with high incidence of stem canker.  During the experiments potato are grown under controlled conditions with different treatments of fungus and nematodes as well as various times of application.

The aim of the project is to be able to identify the interaction and to understand the causality between nematodes and R. solani to gain insight into and analyse the problems of poor emergence. It is very important to have knowledge of what is the cause and what is the consequence in order for development of control strategies. Therefore we stared up with a field study, together with agronomy student Pia Björsell (graduated June 2015), on the correlation between abundance of nematodes and severance of stem cancer. We found significant correlations between stem canker and stubby root nematodes as well as juveniles of potato cyst nematodes . The project is financed by The Swedish Farmers’ Foundation for Agricultural Research.

Blixt, Eva. 2009. On Phaeosphaeria nodorum in wheat. Doctoral diss. Dept. of Forest Mycology and Pathology, SLU. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae Sueciae vol. 2009:1.

Liljeroth E., Odilbekov F. & Edin, E. 2015. Fungicide strategies against early blight and presence of F129L in Sweden. In: Schepers H, eds. Proceedings of the 14th EuroBlight Workshop. Special Report No. 17. 101-102. Wageningen UR. Lelystad, The Netherlands. ISSN 1569-32117.

Viketoft, M. & Edin, E. 2014. Synergistic interaction between plant-feeding nematodes and the fungus Rhizoctonia solani in potato. Journal of Nematology 4, 252-253. 

Beuch, U., Persson, P., Edin, E. & Kvarnheden, A. 2014. Necrotic diseases caused by viruses in Swedish potato tubers. Plant Pathology 63, 667–674.

Edin, E & Andersson, B. 2014. The early blight situation in Sweden - species abundance and strobilurin sensitivity. In: Schepers H, eds. Proceedings of the 14th EuroBlight Workshop. Special Report No. 16. 83-84. Wageningen UR. Lelystad, The Netherlands. ISSN 1569-32116.

Edin E., Odilbekov F., Gustavsson L., Liljeroth E. 2012. Genetic structure of Alternaria solani - a new approach. Abstract till “Thirteenth EuroBlight Workshop”. Special Report No. 15. PPO Publication no. 498, 113-114. Lelystad, The Netherlands. ISSN 1569-32115.

Edin, E. 2012. Species specific primers for identification of Alternaria solani, in combination with analysis of the F129L substitution associates with loss of sensitivity toward strobilurins. Crop Protection 38, 72-73.

Edin E. & Torriani S. 2012. The role of intraspecific parallel genetic adaptation to QoIs in Europe. In: Thind (red). Fungicide Resistance in Crop Protection: Risk and Management. 78-86. CABI: Bodmin. ISBN-13: 978 1 84593 905 2

Edin, E. 2011. Torrfläcksjuka på potatis, Faktablad om växtskydd, Jordbruk 128J.

Edin, E. 2011. Fungicider och fungicidresistens, Faktablad om växtskydd, Jordbruk 33J. 

http://pub.epsilon.slu.se/1912/

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261219412000828 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4077174/

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ppa.12141/abstract

http://www.slu.se/Global/externwebben/nl-fak/ekologi/V%c3%a4xtskydd/faktablad/Faktablad_om_vaxtskydd_33J_webb.pdf

http://pub.epsilon.slu.se/8459/1/edin_e_111125.pdf

http://stud.epsilon.slu.se/8111/