Souza Araújo,
A., Angelotti, F. and
Ribeiro Junior, P.M.
2019
Severity of melon
powdery mildew
as a function of
increasing temperature
and carbon dioxide
concentration.
Revista Brasileira
de Coemcoas Agrárias 14:
e6916, 2019, doi:
10.5039/agrarian.v14i4a6916.
NOTE:
Powdery mildew,
commonly caused
by the fungus
Podosphaera xanthiii,
is one of the main
diseases impacting
the melon crop in Brazil.
Each year it is responsible
for causing great economic
damage via production losses.
Souza Araújo et al. investigated
if higher CO2 levels and
higher temperatures
would impact the severity
of powdery mildew disease
on eight melon cultivars
commonly grown in Brazil.
SUMMARY:
A warmer environment
that is enriched with
atmospheric CO2 will be
a healthier environment
for melon production.
Relative to
ambient conditions,
disease severity
was reduced
by 49% under
elevated CO2
and by 56%
under elevated
temperature.
The effects
of elevated CO2
and elevated
temperature,
in combination,
were additive.
Disease severity
declined in the
eight cultivars,
from 62% to 89%,
compared to
ambient CO2
and ambient
temperature
conditions.
This is
great news
for farmers
who are losing
large quantities
of this favored crop
to powdery mildew
disease across Brazil
and elsewhere !
DETAILS:
Brazilian researchers
grew the cultivars
( Araguaia, Awton, Eldorado,
Gladial, Gold, Hibix, Juazeiro,
Natal and Sancho )
in environment
-controlled
growth chambers
under ambient
( 410 ppm )
or elevated CO2 and
ambient or elevated
( ambient +4°C )
temperatures.
The melon seedlings
were inoculated with
powdery mildew
in a full-factorial design
with the temperature
and CO2 treatments,
and the severity
of the disease was
examined nine days
after inoculation.
Chart Figure 1:
Severity of
powdery mildew
in melon seedlings
(pooled for 8
different cultivars)
at different
CO2 concentrations
(left panel)
and temperatures
(right panel).
The red text
indicates
the reduction
in disease severity
relative to ambient
conditions
at elevated CO2
and elevated
temperature
conditions:
Chart Figure 2:
Interactive effects
of temperature and
CO2 increases,
on powdery
mildew disease
severity, of eight
melon cultivars:
