C3PO - Identification of adaptation and/or resistance strategies based on agronomic, (epi)genetic, and microbial levers to two major pathogens in oilseed rape in the face of climate change

Background and challenge 

In the face of climate challenges, field crops—particularly winter rapeseed—are facing changing biotic and abiotic pressures that alter the interactions between plants and pathogens. These complex interactions raise questions about the mechanisms underlying plant tolerance or susceptibility, and about the strategies needed to ensure the sustainable protection of agroecosystems. Our research is based on two main observations:

• specific climatic conditions can induce tolerance to biotic stress through a phenomenon of cross-tolerance or, conversely, promote infection by the pathogen, either within the same growing season or across generations
• regulatory mechanisms at different scales involving the plant/seed, its extended phenotype, and/or the pathogen are implicated in these intra- or intergenerational effects

Thus, the scientific and operational objectives of the project aim to:

• Aggregate knowledge on plant-pathogen interactions and the regulatory levels involved, in the context of climate change in winter rapeseed
• Adapt current control measures (agronomic practices, genetic resistance)
• Explore new strategies to combat these pests by leveraging the microbiome (seeds, plants, soil) and epigenetic regulation (plants, fungi).

Objectives

The C3PO project aims to establish an interdisciplinary consortium to deepen our understanding of the effects of climate change on the response (susceptibility/resistance) of winter rapeseed to two major diseases (i.e., phoma and clubroot) and to identify strategies to mitigate or improve these responses.

We propose to establish a national consortium bringing together scientists with complementary expertise to study the impact of climate change on the response of winter rapeseed to infection by two pathogens: Plasmodiophora brassicae, a soil-borne protist responsible for clubroot, which infects the roots, and Leptosphaeria maculans, an airborne fungus that infects rapeseed cotyledons and leaves before migrating into the stem, responsible for phoma (stem canker). Within this interdisciplinary consortium, we will seek to develop a framework for analyzing these effects to better understand how and through which processes, climatic conditions can increase susceptibility or promote resistance to pathogens during the establishment phases, to identify levers for adaptation.

The study of two pathosystems involving two pathogens that have a significant impact on rapeseed, with different infection mechanisms (one infecting the roots and the other entering the plant through the cotyledons and leaves and then migrating to the stem base in the spring), with a key initial stage of infection in the fall for both pathogens, will enable the identification of common or specific determinants, providing a broad understanding of this adaptation.

Involved research units and partnership

Partners

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