Testing Effects of Seed Treatments against Clubroot Disease in Various Oilseed Rape Hybrids

Abstract

Clubroot disease, caused by the protist pathogen Plasmodiophora brassicae, is an emerging threat to cruciferous crops, including oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.). Most of the current commercial cultivars are highly susceptible, and efficient management tools are lacking practical implementation. Over three years and three experimental periods, we studied the effects of isotianil in comparison with Bacillus amyloliquefaciens QST713-HiCFU against clubroot disease under greenhouse experiments. Our results show control effects, which were strongly dependent on seasons, host plant genotype, and clubroot isolates: isotianil and B. amyloliquefaciens QST713-HiCFU reduced disease severity consistently at variable, but field-relevant spore concentrations of clubroot isolates; with seed treatments showing superior effects compared to drench applications. The co-application of isotianil with B. amyloliquefaciens QST713-HiCFU could, in some cases, increase the efficacy. Interestingly, all studied hybrids reacted to treatments, albeit to a somewhat different extent. When tested against a field isolate, the results obtained with the single spore isolate were partially confirmed but with greater variability. Overall, the generally positive effects of isotianil and B. amyloliquefaciens QST713-HiCFU on the reduction of clubroot were repeatedly observed. The inoculation of clubroot disease with different spore counts indicates a dose–response effect for tested products. This study highlights the importance of performing experiments holistically over multiple, consecutive seasons, with various isolates, application types, and different genetic resources of host plants.