2.3.1.1 The poplar rust case
A clue came when two poplar
(Populus ) leaf rusts, caused by Melampsora medusae Thum.
and M. larici-populina , reached Australia and thence New Zealand
in 1973 (Van Krayenoord et al. 1974; Wilkinson and Spiers 1976; Spiers
1998). These fungal pathogens, between them, severely affected most of
the planted poplar clones in both countries. Both these rusts spread by
urediniospores (asexual spore stage) while the poplar hosts are in leaf,
this spread being polycyclic with repeated cycles of infection within
the season. A the start of the autumn teliospores are produced which
overwinter on fallen poplar leaves and begin the sexual stage of the
life cycle. Teliospores germinate in spring producing basidiospores that
infect the alternate, conifer host, generally larch (Larix sp.).
Infection of poplar from mid-spring begins from aeciospores, produced on
the conifer. This completes the sexual stage of the life cycle, starting
afresh the polycyclic seasonal build-up of infection.
Where the conifer host is not
present, however, some overwintering of the uredinial stage, either on
persisting poplar leaves in mild climates or possibly as mycelia within
dormant leaf buds, can start the build-up (Walker et al. 1974; Wilkinson
and Spiers 1976; Barrès et al. 2012; Albornoz et al. 2018). In a
co-evolved host/pathogen relationship involving such leaf rusts, there
should be a comparatively slow build-up of infection during the growing
season. However, overwintering cycles of urediniospore production would
accelerate the new seasonal build-up.
In
New Zealand, a semi-evergreen mutant clone (cv Sempervirens) of the
Lombardy poplar (Populus nigra L. cv. Italica) had been widely
planted, being often favoured for orchard shelterbelts. This had
originated in Chile as a somatic mutation. Its widespread presence, with
the semi-evergreen habit and the inherent susceptibility to M.
larici-populina (but not to M. medusae ), exacerbated the initial
rust epidemic. Where winter conditions are suitably mild to allow
retention of leaves, the all-year presence of infected leaves assured a
continuing supply of urediniospores, favouring a far quicker build-up of
infection in the new season than would be expected from deciduous
material. Aided by this quick build-up, M. larici-populina spread
rapidly and widely, defoliating poplars susceptible to both rusts, whileM. medusae unable to build up inoculum in the winter was
outcompeted and remained restricted in distribution (Wilkinson and
Spiers 1976). The semi-evergreen clone was very severely affected, and
was soon almost eradicated, which presumably contributed to the rusts
becoming less serious a few years after arriving. Other contributing
factors would have included felling of trees of other severely affected
cultivars, and a spontaneous proliferation of hyperparasitic and
otherwise antagonistic microorganisms in phyllosphere communities on the
leaf surfaces (Heather and Chandrashekar 1982).
The semi-evergreen cultivar shared the inherent susceptibility to
infection with the original deciduous cultivar. That susceptibility,
however, has exposed a potential danger of an evergreen habit in
reducing protection from natural delays in the seasonal build-up of
infection. Such a reduction can be expected to increase the level of
resistance required for field fitness. That would increase selection
pressures imposed by rusts, which operate alongside all the other
selection pressures. Since increased selection pressure on any trait
tends to reduce the possible selection intensity for other traits, that
means a potential for ’selection overload’. Moreover, the poplar rust
pathosystems are very complex (e.g. Barrès et al. 2012; Persoons et al.
2014; Albornoz et al. 2018), with a potential to be very dynamic and
readily destabilised.
Co-adaptation between rusts and poplars has tended to arise in climates
that have severe or moderately severe winters. Thus, the mild climates
of New Zealand and Chile are not the norm for the natural pathosystems.
Yet these novel conditions outside climatic norms that provide an
opportunity to examine the action of pathogens as evolutionary drivers
influencing the persistence of deciduousness. Testing our hypothesis,
and whether an evergreen poplar could ever be ecologically fit, however,
faces major practical obstacles. Ideally, a population of evergreen
genotypes, rather than just one, should be used for comparison with
deciduous genotypes. However, there is no easy pathway to obtaining such
a population. Even using the existing semi-evergreen clone would be
suspect, because it might not match young seedlings, from which native
poplars grow, for susceptibility to the pathogen within the growing
season. Indeed, any matching of comparison material for inherent
susceptibility would be challenging. Field testing would be wanted,
where natural pathogens would be present. The impact of the pathogen(s)
would need to be evaluated, most likely over several years as most
impacts from rusts occur after repeated seasons of infection. Evaluating
impact is likely to be complicated by the fact that presence of a
susceptible evergreen host will likely influence disease development and
impact on deciduous genotypes. Pathogen dispersal between stands could
similarly complicate the picture. To manage these challenges, chemical
control (or some effective but targeted biocontrol) of the pathogen(s)
would need to be used to exclude rust impacts from a subset of trees.
Support for our hypothesis would be obtained from the persistence of
susceptible evergreen genotypes, and the relative success compared to
susceptible deciduous genotypes, where the pathogen impacts are excluded
from both, and the decline and eventual extinction of evergreen
genotypes where pathogen impacts are not prevented.