Slavica Matic

Italian National Research Council | CNR · Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection

Isolation on culture media followed with macroscopic, microscopic, molecular and phyloge- netic analyses and pathogenicity tests allowed us to identify Pythium capillosum to be capable of destroy- ing dagger nematode through endozoic parasitism from ingested oomycete zoospores. Although endo- parasitism of free-living nematodes is found to be commo...

Erysiphe corylacearum has recently been reported in northern Italy (Piedmont) and other European countries as the causal agent of a new emerging powdery mildew on hazelnut. This disease is much more dangerous than the common hazelnut powdery mildew caused by Phyllactinia guttata as it significantly reduces yield and quality of hazelnuts. This study...

Despite advances in science and technology, agricultural yield losses due to plant pathogens and pests currently account for 30% of global production [...]

To accurately determine the spread of any pathogen, including plant viruses, a quick, sensitive, cost-effective, point-of-care diagnostic assay is necessary. Wheat spindle streak mosaic virus (WSSMV) is a Bymovirus , transmitted by the plasmodiophorid Polymyxa graminis Led, which causes yellow mosaic and reduces the grain yield in wheat. Currently,...

In the latest literature, climate models show that the conditions for pines, spruces, larches, and birches will deteriorate significantly. In Poland, as well as in other European countries, there are already signs of the decline of these species. This review article deals with the symbiotic relationships between fungi and plants, which can hardly b...

3.2 Viral diseases of vegetables (3.2.2 Tomato)

An innovative spectroscopic method that allows to chemically and structurally characterize viruses directly in suspension within few minutes was developed. A library of five different plant viruses was obtained combining dielectrophoresis (DEP), performed with a device specifically designed to capture and agglomerate virus particles, and Raman spec...

Ash trees are an important component of both forests and the countryside. Emerging new diseases like ash dieback poses new challenges to Fraxinus spp., which not only have to adapt to global warming but also defend themselves against new threats from pathogenic fungi and insect pests. A new species of fungus, Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, has arrived in...

Isolation on culture media followed with macroscopic, microscopic, molecular and phylogenetic analyses and pathogenicity test allowed us to identified Pythium capilosum found to be capable of destroying certain dagger nematode through endozoic parasitism from ingested oomycete zoospores. Although endoparasitism of free-living nematodes is found to...

In this paper, a comprehensive overview of the 'Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum' presence in Europe was provided. The analyzed findings revealed that, since the first appearance of this pathogen in Finland and Spain in 2008, it has spread to 13 new European countries. Therefore, 'Ca. L. solanacearum' has spread very quickly across the European...

Citation: Mehta, S.; Dhawi, F.; Garg, P.; Rao, M.; Bhattacharya, R.C.; Akthar, J.; Yadav, R.; Singh, M.; Singh, K.; Nallathambi, P.; et al. Potential Source of Resistance in Introgressed, Mutant and Synthetic Brassica juncea L. Lines against Diverse Isolates of White Rust Pathogen, Albugo candida. Agronomy 2023, 13, 1215. https:// Abstract: The exi...

RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RDRs) are key players in the antiviral defence mediated by RNA silencing in plants. RDR6 is one of the major components of the process, regulating the infection of certain RNA viruses. To better clarify its function against DNA viruses, we analyzed the effect of RDR6 inactivation (RDR6i) in N. benthamiana plants on tw...

Powdery mildew (PM) is one of the most important diseases of greenhouse and field-grown tomatoes. Viruses can intervene beneficially on plant performance in coping with biotic and abiotic stresses. Tomato yellow leaf curl Sardinia virus (TYLCSV) has been reported recently to induce tolerance against drought stress in tomato, and its C4 protein acts...

The genus Fusarium comprises more than 300 species, and many of them are pathogens that cause severe diseases in agricultural, horticultural and forestry plants in both antropogenic and natural ecosystems. Because of their importance as plant pathogens, the genomes of several Fusarium spp. have been sequenced. Within this genus, Fusarium circinatum...

Drought stress is one of the major physiological stress factors that adversely affect agricultural production, altering critical features of plant growth and metabolism. Plants can be subjected simultaneously to abiotic and biotic stresses, such as drought and viral infections. Rewarding effects provided by viruses on the ability of host plants to...

Soil-borne cereal mosaic virus (SBCMV) is a furovirus with rigid rod-shaped particles containing an ssRNA genome, transmitted by Polymyxa graminis Led., a plasmodiophorid that can persist in soil for up to 20 years. SBCMV was reported on common and durum wheat and it can cause yield losses of up to 70%. Detection protocols currently available are c...

A 20-year study of a pine stand on post-agricultural land showed that woody debris in the form of organic matter can be successfully used to restore symbiotic mycorrhizal communities, as is the case with forest soils. Woody substrates restored organic matter in soils altered by long agricultural use and had a positive effect on the composition of m...

Japanese quince trees are grown as ornamental plants in Iran, in parks and in orchards close to stone fruit and pome fruit trees. Shoots of Japanese quince (Chaenomeles japonica) showing sunken brown canker symptoms were observed and collected near Sari, the center of Mazandaran province in the North of Iran, during the 2016 growing season. Gram ne...

Bois noir (BN), a disease of the grapevine yellows complex associated with ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma solani’ (CaPsol), represents a great threat in wine growing areas worldwide. Several studies revealed that BN epidemiology is complex, including multiple insect vectors and plant hosts. In the present work, a survey on putative CaPsol insect vectors a...

Viruses can interfere with the ability of plants to overcome abiotic stresses, indicating the existence of common molecular networks that regulate stress responses. A begomovirus causing the tomato yellow leaf curl disease was recently shown to enhance heat tolerance in tomato and drought tolerance in tomato and Nicotiana benthamiana and experiment...

One of the most destructive diseases affecting grapevine in Europe is caused by Flavescence Dorée phytoplasma (FDp), which belongs to the 16Sr-V group and is a European Union quarantine pathogen. Although many molecular techniques such as loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) are widely used for the rapid detection of FDp in infected grapev...

Grapevine is one of the most cultivated fruit plant among economically relevant species in the world. It is vegetatively propagated and can be attacked by more than 80 viruses with possible detrimental effects on crop yield and wine quality. Preventive measures relying on extensive and robust diagnosis are fundamental to guarantee the use of virus-...

Grapevine virus A (GVA) is a phloem-restricted virus (genus Vitivirus, family Betaflexiviridae) that cause crop losses of 5–22% in grapevine cultivars, transmitted by different species of pseudococcid mealybugs, the mealybug Heliococcus bohemicus, and by the scale insect Neopulvinaria innumerabilis. In this work, we studied the genetic structure an...

Background: the most widely distributed and virulent Grapevine leafroll-associated viruses (GLRaV) that affect grapevine are GLRaV-1 and GLRaV-3, transmitted semi-persistently by different mealybugs and soft scales, mainly causing downward rolling of the leaf margins and interveinal reddening. Methods: the main objectives of this study were to inve...

Grapevine virus A (GVA), the type species of the Vitivirus genus, is one of the causal agents of the Kober stem grooving disease of the rugose wood complex and one of the most frequently detected viruses in grapevine. There is little information on GVA gene(s) marker useful for phylogenetic analysis. To this aim, a total of 403 leaf samples were co...

A real-time loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay was developed for simple, rapid and efficient detection of the Olea europaea geminivirus (OEGV), a virus recently reported in different olive cultivation areas worldwide. A preliminary screening by end-point PCR for OEGV detection was conducted to ascertain the presence of OEGV in Sici...

GLRAV-1 i GLRAV-3, na autohtonim kultivarima Žilavka i Blatina na lokalitetu Lopate u mostarskom vinogorju, 21st scientific-expert conference in agriculture and food industry, Neum:130-131. Karačić A., Matić S., Delić D., Vončina D., Đermić E. (2016). Occurrence of the grapevine viruses in population of Bosnia and Herzegovina autochthonous grapevin...

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), family Solanaceae, has become in the past fifty years one of the most important and extensively grown horticultural crops in the Mediterranean region and throughout the world. In 2019, more than 180 million tonnes of tomato have been produced worldwide, out of which around 42 million tonnes in Mediterranean countri...

Parietaria mottle virus (PMoV) is considered an emerging virus in many countries of the Mediterranean basin, especially on tomato and pepper crops. Symptoms on tomato leaves and fruits can be easily confused with those induced by cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) with necrogenic satellite RNA (CMV-satRNA), tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) or tomato mosai...

Seed transmission is an important factor in the epidemiology of plant pathogens. Gemini-viruses are serious pests spread in tropical and subtropical regions. They are transmitted by hemip-teran insects, but a few cases of transmission through seeds were recently reported. Here, we investigated the tomato seed transmissibility of the begomovirus tom...

Abstract: Seed transmission is an important factor in the epidemiology of plant pathogens. Geminiviruses are serious pests spread in tropical and subtropical regions. They are transmitted by hemipteran insects, but few cases of transmission though seeds were recently reported. Here, we investigated the tomato seed transmissibility of the begomoviru...

Grapevine fanleaf virus (GFLV) is one of the main causes of grapevine fanleaf degeneration disease (GFDD) and is present in almost all areas where grapevine is cultivated. In this work, we ascertained the presence and spread of GFLV in different commercial vineyards in four Sicilian provinces (Italy), and its genetic structure and molecular variabi...

The sanitary status of grapevines has not yet been considered sufficiently in vineyards throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). An extensive survey of five major grapevine viruses in the country was carried out in 2019. A total of 630 samples from the two dominant autochthonous cultivars, named Žilavka and Blatina, were tested by DAS-ELISA for the...

Bakanae disease, caused by Fusarium fujikuroi, was investigated under different CO2 and temperature environments in order to simulate climate changes in the F. fujikuroi/rice pathosystem. F. fujikuroi infected plants were grown under six phytotron conditions: 1) 18‐22 °C (night/day) + 450 ppm CO2 (low temperatures and ambient CO2), 2) 18‐22 °C (nig...

Fusarium equiseti, a member of the Fusarium incarnatum-equiseti species complex (FIESC), has recently been reported in Italy as the causal agent of a leaf spot diseases on previously unrecorded plant hosts. This emerging disease has affected leafy vegetable hosts including lettuce, lamb's lettuce, wild rocket, cultivated rocket, spinach and radish,...

In the last decades, the evolution of molecular diagnosis methods has generated different advanced tools, like loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP). Currently, it is a well-established technique, applied in different fields, such as the medicine, agriculture, and food industries, owing to its simplicity, specificity, rapidity, and low-cost...

Serious outbreaks of Alternaria leaf spot and plant decay have recently been recorded on several ornamental plants in the Biella Province (Northern Italy). Twenty-two fungal isolates were obtained from Alternaria infected plant tissues from 13 ornamental hosts. All the isolates were identified morphologically as small-spored Alternaria species. Mul...

Severe outbreaks of Alternaria leaf spot have occurred in Northern Italy on leafy vegetable and ornamental hosts. This disease is mainly controlled by two classes of respiration inhibitor fungicides, QoIs (including azoxystrobin) and SDHIs (including boscalid). Thirty-six Alternaria strains were isolated from five leafy vegetable crops, and subject...

BACKGROUND Aspergillus fumigatus, the causal agent of aspergillosis in humans, is commonly present as a saprophyte in various organic substrates, such as spoiled silages. Aspergillosis is generally combated with demethylation inhibitor (DMI) fungicides, but the recent appearance of resistant medical and environmental strains made current treatment...

The genera Paramyrothecium and Albifimbria have been established from the former genus Myrothecium and they generally comprise common soil-inhabiting and saprophytic fungi. Within these genera, only two fungi have been recognized as phytopathogenic thus far: P. roridum and A. verrucaria, both of which cause necrotic leaf spots and plant collapse. S...

The propensity of viruses to acquire genetic material from relatives and possibly from infected hosts makes them excellent candidates as vectors for horizontal gene transfer. However, virus-mediated acquisition of host genetic material, as deduced from historical events, appears to be rare. Here, we report spontaneous and surprisingly efficient gen...

Aims The response of rhizosphere and bulk soil indigenous microbial communities focusing on nitrifiers was evaluated after the application of different biological control agents (BCAs) (Bacillus, Trichoderma, Pseudomonas) and compost in controlling lettuce Fusarium wilt. Methods and Results Experiments were conducted “in situ” over two lettuce cro...

BACKGROUND Pythium species attack various vegetable crops causing seed, stem and root rot, and ‘damping‐off’ after germination. Pythium diseases are prevalently controlled by two classes of fungicides, QoIs with azoxystrobin and phenlyamides with mefenoxam as representatives. The present study aimed to test the sensitivity of six Pythium species fr...

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The effect of simulated climate changes by applying different temperatures and CO 2 levels was investigated in the Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici/wheat pathosystem. Healthy and inoculated plants were exposed in single phytotrons to six CO 2 +temperature combinations: (1) 450 ppm CO 2 /18-22°C (ambient CO 2 and low temperature), (2) 850 ppm CO 2 /...

Aspergillus fumigatus, the causal agent of human aspergilloses, is known to be non-pathogenic in plants. It is present as saprophyte in different types of organic matter and develops rapidly during the high-temperature phase of the composting process. Aspergilloses are treated with demethylation inhibitor (DMI) fungicides and resistant isolates hav...