University of Alberta researchers have found new clubroot strains capable of infecting canola plants bred to resist the disease. (Photo From X/Alberta Agriculture)

By Alice McFarlane/FarmNewsNOW

New strains of clubroot discovered in Western Canadian crops

Aug 25, 2023 | 1:01 PM

EDMONTON – University of Alberta researchers have found new clubroot strains capable of infecting canola plants bred to resist the disease.

Now, a variety of management strategies are needed to counter evolving threats to Prairie crops.

Researchers identified 25 unique clubroot pathotypes from samples collected from more than 250 fields in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba in 2019 and 2020. Seven of the strains are new and six can bypass the crop’s bred resistance against the disease.

Keisha Hollman is a PhD candidate in plant science in the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences. Hollman said, “The findings really underscore how quickly pathotype shifts are occurring and how quickly we are finding new pathotypes.”

“And it is likely we will continue to find new ones.”

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U of A plant pathologist Stephen Strelkov supervised Hollman’s research.

Clubroot is caused by a parasite that infests field soil with resting spores that can survive up to 20 years. Canola and related plants such as cabbage, that are grown in the infested soil develop tumors on the roots, which block water and nutrient uptake, causing stunted growth, yellowing, wilting and in worst cases, death of the plant.

Clubroot can cause anywhere from 60 to 90 per cent canola crop yield loss in one of Canada’s most valuable cash crops.

Most of the pathotypes were found in only a handful of fields, but the disease’s ability to continue to emerge poses a challenge for canola producers. It can take up to a decade to develop a clubroot-resistant plant. The study will help inform clubroot management efforts.

Hollman said producers must continue to manage the risk through integrated management strategies that help take the pressure off genetic resistance alone.

Those measures include sanitizing farm equipment between fields and rotating out of canola for at least two years or more. This strategy, discovered in a 2019 U of A study, reduces the number of clubroot spores by about 90 per cent in field soil.