A metagenetic approach to determine the diversity and distribution of cyst nematodes at the level of the country, the field and the individual
Abstract
Distinct populations of the potato cyst nematode (PCN) Globodera pallida exist in the UK that differ in their ability to overcome various sources of resistance. An efficient method for distinguishing between populations would enable pathogen-informed cultivar choice in the field. Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA) annually undertake national DNA diagnostic tests to determine the presence of PCN in potato seed and ware land by extracting DNA from soil floats. These DNA samples provide a unique resource for monitoring the distribution of PCN and further interrogation of the diversity within species. We identify a region of mitochondrial DNA descriptive of three main groups of G. pallida present in the UK and adopt a metagenetic approach to the sequencing and analysis of all SASA samples simultaneously. Using this approach, we describe the distribution of G. pallida mitotypes across Scotland with field-scale resolution. Most fields contain a single mitotype, one-fifth contain a mix of mitotypes, and less than 3% contain all three mitotypes. Within mixed fields, we were able to quantify the relative abundance of each mitotype across an order of magnitude. Local areas within mixed fields are dominated by certain mitotypes and indicate towards a complex underlying 'pathoscape'. Finally, we assess mitotype distribution at the level of the individual cyst and provide evidence of 'hybrids'. This study provides a method for accurate, quantitative and high-throughput typing of up to one thousand fields simultaneously, while revealing novel insights into the national genetic variability of an economically important plant parasite.
Citation
Eves-van den Akker , S , Lilley , C J , Reid , A , Pickup , J , Anderson , E , Cock , P J A , Blaxter , M , Urwin , P E , Jones , J & Blok , V C 2015 , ' A metagenetic approach to determine the diversity and distribution of cyst nematodes at the level of the country, the field and the individual ' , Molecular Ecology , vol. 24 , no. 23 , pp. 5842-5851 . https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.13434
Publication
Molecular Ecology
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0962-1083Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2015 The Authors. Molecular Ecology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Description
This study was supported by the Scottish Society for Crop Research and The University of Leeds Sustainable Agriculture Bursary Fund. SE-vdA is supported by BBSRC grant BB/M014207/1.Collections
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