Development of Quantitative Real-Time PCR Assays to Quantify <i>Erysiphe pisi</i> and <i>Erysiphe trifolii</i> and Its Implementation for Monitoring Their Relative Prevalence in Pea Crops in Spain and Tunisia
2022
Sara Fondevilla | Mª José González-Bernal | Noura Omri Ben Youssef | Diego Rubiales
<i>E. pisi</i> was thought to be the only causal agent of powdery mildew in peas, with three genes, <i>er1</i>, <i>er2</i> and <i>Er3</i>, conferring resistance to this pathogen. Recently, <i>E. trifolii</i> has also been found to cause this disease in peas in different countries, but its relevance in pea powdery mildew disease worldwide is unknown. The objective of this study was to develop a method to identify and quantify <i>E. pisi</i> and <i>E. trifolii</i> and use it to analyze the relative prevalence of <i>E. pisi</i> and <i>E. trifolii</i> in pea fields in Spain and Tunisia. We also wanted to discern the effect of the <i>er1</i>, <i>er2</i> and <i>Er3</i> resistance genes on the relative amount of <i>E. pisi/E. trifolii</i>. Using the polymorphic sites present between <i>E. pisi</i> and <i>E. trifolii</i> ITS sequences, we developed a qPCR method capable of identifying and quantifying these pathogens. Our results revealed, for the first time, the occurrence of <i>E. trifolii</i> in Tunisia and that the presence of <i>er1</i>, <i>er2</i> and <i>Er3</i> genes have a clear effect on the ratio <i>E. pisi/E. trifolii</i> in both countries.
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