Silvia Laura Toffolatti

University of Milan | UNIMI · Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences - Production, Landscape, Agroenergy

Oomycetes-borne diseases represent a serious problem for agriculture sustainability due to the high use of chemical products employed for their control. In recent years, increasing concerns on side effects associated with fungicide utilization have led to the reduction of the permissible modes of action, with the remaining ones continuously threate...

Downy and powdery mildews are major grapevine diseases. In organic viticulture, a few fungicides with protectant activities (copper and sulphur in particular) can be used, and their preventative application frequently leads to unneeded spraying. The adoption of an epidemiological disease forecasting model could optimise the timing of treatments and...

Downy mildew, caused by the obligate parasite Plasmopara viticola, is one of the most important threats to viticulture. The exploitation of resistant and susceptibility traits of grapevine is one of the most promising ways to increase the sustainability of disease management. Nitrogen (N) fertilization is known for influencing disease severity in t...

Background: Oxathiapiprolin is a novel fungicide and the first of the piperidinyl-thiazole-isoxazoline class to be discovered. This fungicide has been reported to have high activity against Plasmopara viticola, the grapevine downy mildew agent, and other plant-pathogenic oomycetes. In this study, the baseline sensitivity of Italian P. viticola pop...

Plasmopara viticola, the oomycete causing grapevine downy mildew, is one of the most important pathogens in viticulture. P. viticola is a polycyclic pathogen, able to carry out numerous secondary cycles of infection during a single vegetative grapevine season, by producing asexual spores (zoospores) within sporangia. The extent of these infections...

Durable resistance is a key objective in genetic improvement for disease resistance in grapevines, which must survive for years in the field in the presence of adaptable pathogen populations. In this study, the adaptation of 72 Northern Italian isolates of Plasmopara viticola, the downy mildew agent, has been investigated into Bianca, possessing Rp...

Downy mildew is a major disease of grapevine. Conventional methods for assessing crop diseases are time-consuming and require trained personnel. This work aimed to develop and validate a new method to automatically estimate the severity of downy mildew in grapevine leaves using fuzzy logic and computer vision techniques. Leaf discs of two grapevine...

Grapevines are challenged by a range of diseases and pests, causing economic losses and requiring often costly approaches to mitigate damage. Public interest in reducing the use of chemicals is a related challenge, along with climate change. Yet, the Vitis gene pool provides vast resources for the development of genetic resistance in rootstock and...

The Eurasian grapevine ( Vitis vinifera ), a species cultivated worldwide for high-quality wine production, is extremely susceptible to the agent of downy mildew, Plasmopara viticola . Nevertheless, germplasm from Georgia (Southern Caucasus, the first grapevine domestication centre), characterized by a high genetic variability, showed resistance tr...

and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization, France Under the European Union aegis, a new round of non-competitive projects is being initiated via Euphresco. The topic description developed within the consortium created within Euphresco research coordination is the development of the basic substance for management of pests/vectors via natural c...

The plant disease onset is a complex event that occurs when the pathogen and the host encounter in a favorable environment. While the plant-pathogen interaction has been much investigated, little attention has been given to the phenological synchrony of the event, especially when both plant and pathogen overwinter, as in the case of grapevines and...

If you have ever kept fruits, vegetables, or even bread in your kitchen for a long time, you have probably noticed the formation of a grayish and fuzzy covering over them. But what exactly are those grayish-white filaments? Are they dangerous for us? They are living things and they belong to the group of organisms called fungi. These fungi grow on...

Downy mildew, caused by the oomycete Plasmopara viticola , is one of the diseases causing the most severe economic losses to grapevine ( Vitis vinifera ) production. To date, the application of fungicides is the most efficient method to control the pathogen and the implementation of novel and sustainable disease control methods is a major challenge...

Downy mildew is a critical disease in grapevine, which seriously affects production and grape quality. Usually, the detection of this disease is performed by expert’s visual assessment of leaves and fruits. The aim of this work was to use computer vision techniques to develop a new algorithm for automatic detection and quantification of downy milde...

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera) is one of the most widely cultivated plant species of agricultural interest, and is extensively appreciated for its fruits and the wines made from its fruits. Considering the high socioeconomic impact of the wine sector all over the world, in recent years, there has been an increase in work aiming to investigate the biodi...

The discovery of new mechanisms of resistance and natural bioactive molecules could be two of the possible ways to reduce fungicide use in vineyard and assure an acceptable and sustainable protection against Plasmopara viticola, the grapevine downy mildew agent. Emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as terpenes, norisoprenoids, alcoho...

The use of single-site fungicides to control plant pathogens in the agroecosystem can be associated with an increased selection of resistance. The evolution of resistance represents one of the biggest challenges in disease control. In vineyards, frequent applications of fungicides are carried out every season for multiple years. The agronomic risk...

Terpenes constitute a highly diverse class of chemical compounds produced by the plant and playing a role in many functions, both physiological and ecological. Plants constantly interact with other organisms, from beneficial to detrimental, and evolved sophisticated regulatory mechanisms to control these interactions. The role of terpenes, or more...

Despite sharing many of the traits that have allowed the genus Bacillus to gain recognition for its agricultural relevance, the genus Lysinibacillus is not as well-known and studied. The present study employs in vitro, in vivo, in planta, and in silico approaches to characterize Lysinibacillus fusiformis strain S4C11, isolated from the roots of an...

Downy mildew is a crucial disease in viticulture due to its impact. In-field evaluation of downy mildew has been classically based on visual inspection of leaves and fruits. Nevertheless, noninvasive sensing technologies could be used for disease detection in grapevine. The aim of this study is to assess downy mildew severity in grapevine leaves us...

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is a crop of major economic importance. However, grapevine yield is guaranteed by the massive use of pesticides to counteract pathogen infections. Under temperate-humid climate conditions, downy mildew is a primary threat for viticulture. Downy mildew is caused by the biotrophic oomycete Plasmopara viticola Berl. & de...

Plasmopara viticola (Berk. et Curt.) Berl. and de Toni, the agent of downy mildew, is one of the most important pathogens of European grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.). Extensive evaluation of cultivated grapevine germplasm has highlighted the existence of resistant phenotypes in the Georgian (Southern Caucasus) germplasm. Resistance is shown as a redu...

Grapevine downy mildew caused by Plasmopara viticola is one of the most important diseases in vineyards. Oospores that overwinter in the leaf litter above the soil are the sole source of inoculum for primary infections of P. viticola; in addition to triggering the first infections in the season, the oospores in leaf litter also contribute to diseas...

Botrytis cinerea, the grey mould agent, is one of the most important pathogens of grapevine, due to the great yield losses caused and the economic costs related to disease control. Ground cover plants are assumed to have a role in the complex epidemiology of the pathogen, even if no information on the genetic variability of the strains is available...

Mating types are self-incompatibility systems that promote outcrossing in plants, fungi, and oomycetes. Mating-type genes have been widely studied in plants and fungi but have yet to be identified in oomycetes, eukaryotic organisms closely related to brown algae that cause many destructive animal and plant diseases. We identified the mating-type lo...

Downy mildew, caused by the Oomycete Plasmopara viticola, is one of the most important diseases affecting the Eurasian grapevine, Vitis vinifera. The pathogen originated in Northern America and its presence was signaled for the first time into Europe in 1878. In this study, the genetic variability and structure of Italian P. viticola population was...

Mgaloblishvili, a Vitis vinifera cultivar, exhibits unique resistance traits against Plasmopara viticola, the downy mildew agent. This offers the unique opportunity of exploring the molecular responses in compatible and incompatible plant-pathogen interaction. In this study, whole transcriptomes of Mgaloblishvili, Pinot noir (a V. vinifera suscepti...

Mating types are self-incompatibility systems that promote outcrossing in plants, fungi and oomycetes. Mating-type genes have been widely studied in plants and fungi, but have yet to be identified in oomycetes, eukaryotic organisms closely related to brown algae that cause many destructive animal and plant diseases. We identified the mating-type lo...

Background: Resistance to fungicides is one of the aspects that have to be considered when planning the treatments to achieve an optimal control of grey mould, caused by Botrytis cinerea, in vineyards. In this study, extensive fungicide resistance monitoring was carried out in Northern Italy (Lombardy region) to evaluate several aspects of fungici...

Mycotoxins are toxic, low molecular weight compounds produced by fungi. Among them, aflatoxins are the most carcinogenic and they mainly impact on rural communities of developing countries. The present study supplies data on mycobiota and aflatoxin contamination in the most common food products consumed in Haiti. The study concerns analyses perform...

Plants develop in a microbe-rich environment and must interact with a plethora of microorganisms, both pathogenic and beneficial. Indeed, such is the case of Pseudomonas, and its model organisms P. fluorescens and P. syringae, a bacterial genus that has received particular attention because of its beneficial effect on plants and its pathogenic stra...

This communication will provide the latest information about the progress of the “Research Project for the Study of Georgian Grapes and Wine Culture”, managed by the National Wine Agency of Georgia since 2014. Local and foreign institutions continue to work together with the aim of stimulating multidisciplinary scientific research activity on Georg...

Introgression of genetic resistance to fungal diseases from American and Asian Vitis species traditionally pursued in grape breeding programs, although facilitated by molecular tools, has an impact on wine quality that still slows down development of competitive varieties. A contribution to the genetic improvement of grapevines for resistance to pa...

The Eurasian grapevine (Vitis vinifera), an Old World species now cultivated worldwide for high-quality wine production, is extremely susceptible to the agent of downy mildew, Plasmopara viticola. The cultivation of resistant V. vinifera varieties would be a sustainable way to reduce the damage caused by the pathogen and the impact of disease manag...

BACKGROUND Despite anti‐resistance strategies are recommended to reduce the selection pressure towards insensitive strains, no information is available on the fungal population dynamics following their criteria in real field conditions. In this study the effect on Plasmopara viticola population of two identical spray programs, differing only for in...

This study presents the characterization and antibacterial activity of nanostructured Si by plasma treatment method using a tetrafluoromethane (CF4) and hydrogen (H2) mixture. Nanostructured-Si is a synthetic nanomaterial that contains high aspect ratio nanoprotrusions on its surface, produced through a reactive-ion etching process. We have shown t...

Fusarium species complexes, Fusarium graminearum (FGSC) and F. fujikuroi (FFSC), can cause maize seed decay, seedling blight, root, stalk, kernel, and ear rots. Fusarium infections of maize can result in accumulation of harmful mycotoxins in maize kernels (Leslie and Summerell 2006). A two-year survey from 2011 to 2012 was conducted to determine th...

A two-year survey (2011-2012) was conducted to determine the population composition of Fusarium species on maize (Zea mays L.) in Lombardy (northern Italy). Maize ears exhibiting typical symptoms of Fusarium ear rot (FER) (about 30%), such as white to pink colored mycelia on the tip or scattered all over the ear, were collected at harvest. Rotted k...

Grey mould, caused by Botrytis cinerea, is a disease severely affecting grape production in northern Italy. However, little information is available on the variability of B. cinerea populations associated with grapevine. The mode of reproduction, sensitivity to fungicides, and for the first time in Italy, the genetic structure of B. cinerea populat...

Use of EPI model for a sustainable use of fungicides treatments against the grapevine downy mildew agent Plasmopara viticola

Grapevine downy mildew, caused by Plasmopara viticola, is one of the most important diseases at the international level. The mainly cultivated Vitis vinifera varieties are generally fully susceptible to P. viticola, but little information is available on the less common germplasm. The V. vinifera germplasm of Georgia (Caucasus) is characterized by...

Grapevine downy mildew, caused by Plasmopara viticola, is one of the most important diseases at the international level. The mainly cultivated Vitis vinifera varieties are generally fully susceptible to P. viticola, but little information is available on the less common germplasm. The V. vinifera germplasm of Georgia (Caucasus) is characterized by...

Background The level of sensibility towards cymoxanil was quantified by oospore germination assays in 28 populations of Plasmopara viticola (Berk. et Curt.) Berlese and De Toni sampled from different Italian regions from 2009 until 2012.ResultsThe populations showed good sensitivity levels, with EC50 values often lower than 10 mg/L of active ingred...

Breeding efforts have been undertaken to increase resistance of maize to fusarium ear rot (FER) and to fumonisin accumulation. Flavonoids in the pericarp of the kernels are considered particularly able to reduce the fumonisin accumulation. The aim of this two-year field study was to assess the effect of flavonoids on FER symptoms and fumonisin cont...

Three Botrytis cinerea populations, isolated from three vineyards, one untreated and two treated twice a year, respectively, with fenhexamid or cyprodinil+fludioxonil, were investigated to evaluate the effect of repeated fungicide treatments on the presence and distribution of the transposons Boty and Flipper, and on the phenotypic traits of each p...

One hundred and eighty one strains were selected among Fusarium verticillioides populations isolated from maize samples collected in three fields located in northern Italy. All the isolates were tested for their pathogenicity on maize seeds by assessing the seed germination percentages and the percentage infection indexes concerning seed colonizati...

Background Grapevine downy mildew, caused by Plasmopara viticola, is a very serious disease affecting mainly Vitis vinifera cultivated varieties around the world. Breeding for resistance through the crossing with less susceptible species is one of the possible means to reduce the disease incidence and the application of fungicides. The hybrid Bianc...

In the Italian viticultural regions, downy mildew, caused by Plasmopara viticola, is considered one of the most devastating diseases, particularly where moderate temperatures and frequent rainfall occur during the grapevine vegetative season. This chapter deals with the QoI resistance in this pathogen in Italy and presents the results of the survey...

Fusarium verticillioides, the most common causal organism of Fusarium stalk and ear rot of maize in Northern Italy, produces important mycotoxins such as fumonisins. Reproductive biology of F. verticillioides has been widely studied in numerous maize growing areas, but up to now no information is available on the mating behavior and genetic structu...

QoI resistance in P. viticola was first detected in France and Italy in 1999. Molecular and biological assays have been carried out since 2000 in order to provide reliable methods of detecting and quantifying resistance. Oospores were collected in vineyards located in northern and southern Italy. QoI resistance was evaluated by the germination rate...

The mandelic acid amide, mandipropamid, which belongs to the carboxylic acid amide (CAA) fungicides, is active against Plasmopara viticola, the causal agent of grapevine downy mildew. The fungicide primarily inhibits the germination of encysted zoospores, thus preventing the pathogen’s penetration into the host tissues, but it also shows curative e...

Oospores, the only overwintering structures of Plasmopara viticola, the causal agent of grapevine downy mildew, are the unique source of inoculum for primary infections in vineyards. We show that their germination dynamics depend on both climatic and endogenous factors. In particular, overwintering in controlled conditions suggests that low tempera...

QoI fungicides, inhibitors of mitochondrial respiration at the Qo site of cytochrome b in the mitochondrial bc(1) enzyme complex, are commonly applied in vineyards against Plasmopara viticola (Berk. & MA Curtis) Berl. & De Toni. Numerous treatments per year with QoI fungicides can lead to the selection of resistant strains in the pathogen populatio...

Grapevine downy mildew, caused by Plasmopara viticola is one of the most severe diseases in Italy. Since the detection of resistant strains to QoI fungicides in the pathogen populations in Italy during 1999, resistance monitoring has been performed on the oospores to plan antiresistance strategies. Oospores of P. viticola were collected from 2004 t...

Sono state monitorate le epidemie di peronospora in vigneti situati in tre diverse province del Veneto. Sulla base dei dati climatici rilevati da una fitta rete di stazioni agrometeorologiche sono state elaborate delle curve epidemiche ed è stato calcolato un modello di simulazione per la progressione della malattia. Per ogni sito è stato possibile...