An example of the innovative trap that
uses leaves as 'bait' to attract samples of
the Phytophthora pathogen.
Image: Murdoch University
A study of 77 waterways across Western Australia has revealed several new varieties of Phytophthora, as well as detecting one variety originally from Spain renowned for its devastating effects on olive trees.
The coordinator of the ‘Fishing for Phytophthora’ study, Dr Daniel Huberli, says the extent of the potentially deadly plant pathogens across Western Australia was more widespread than expected.
“I was quite surprised to find that in the three-month study, of the 77 sites, only five had no Phytophthora species.
“I didn’t expect to find such a widespread number of species in the water bodies that we sampled.”
Dr Huberli is the senior lecturer in plant pathology at the Centre for Phytophthora Science and Management based at Murdoch University in Perth.
The study involved more than 20 volunteers sampling waterways from Esperance in the south of the State, to Kununurra in the extreme north.
Phytophthora is a type of plant pathogen that can kill plants and trees. In Australia, its most notorious variety is Phytophthora cinnamomi, which is responsible for killing jarrah trees and many other native plants in Western Australia.
Dr Huberli says the study revealed seven potentially new varieties in Western Australia. The exact number is uncertain because four of the varieties detected might be hybrids.
Also detected was a variety more commonly found in Spain, Phytophthora inundata.
“That variety is quite widespread in the south-west of Western Australia,” Dr Huberli says.
“It was first described in Europe, and also Spain, and it was associated with ornamental plants, dying ornamental plants and water debris.
“It is also really pathogenic in young olive trees.
“We don’t know for sure what it’s doing here. We really need to look more closely as to what it’s going to do here. And that’s the next stage, to look at what these Phytophthora species are doing to our native species and also what is the risk to horticultural plants.”
Dr Huberli says no P. cinnamomi, the jarrah dieback variety, was detected in the waterways studied, possibly because it was the wrong time for the year.
However, a variant, P. cinnamomi variety pavispora, which was first found in greenhouses in Germany, was detected in the WA study.
“Phytophthora species can vary in different seasons, so we may get different results at a different time of year,” he says.
“So we really need more money to do more sampling across the different seasons.”
Results of the study are available online at the Fishing for Phytophthora website.
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