A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Chemical, Morphological, and Phenological Traits of Blueberry Cultivars Predict Susceptibility to A Pollinator-Vectored Fungal Pathogen




AuthorsClemente, Seanne R.; Adler, Lynn S.; Salminen, Juha-Pekka; Engström, Marica T.; Baert, Nicolas; McArt, Scott H.

PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC

Publication year2025

JournalJournal of Chemical Ecology

Journal name in sourceJournal of Chemical Ecology

Article number71

Volume51

ISSN0098-0331

eISSN1573-1561

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-025-01621-2

Web address https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-025-01621-2


Abstract

Several crops are threatened by pollinator-vectored plant pathogens, which can reduce fruit yield and quality. Domestication has frequently increased crop susceptibility to plant pathogens, but significant cultivar variation in resistance typically exists. While it is well known that floral traits can shape plant-pollinator-pathogen interactions in natural and managed systems, little is known regarding how morphological, phenological, and chemical traits combine to shape resistance in domesticated plant species. Here, we address this topic by (1) conducting a common garden field experiment where we measured percent of tissues infected by the fungal pathogen Monilinia vaccini-corymbosii in 14 cultivars of highbush blueberries (Vaccinium spp.) and (2) using a three-pronged multivariate approach of PCA, random forest, and LASSO regressions to single out predictors of cultivar resistance from a suite of phenological, morphological, and chemical (oxidatively active phenolics) traits collected from the field. Leaf and floral traits varied between cultivars, and we found that concentrations of phenolics (chlorogenic acid and total phenolics) in leaves were strong predictors of cultivar resistance to the primary infection stage of M. vaccini-corymbosii, while floral phenology and carpel phenolics (procyanidin-containing proanthocyanidins and quercetin derivatives) predicted resistance to the secondary infection stage. Our findings highlight that intraspecific variation in chemical and phenological traits as a result of breeding can shape plant-pollinator-pathogen dynamics. This information could be used in future trait-based breeding efforts to increase resistance to disease.


Funding information in the publication
We thank Nelson Milano for help with field setup and planting and Matt Boyer for help with field data collection. This work was supported by the USDA NIFA 2012-67012-19854. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.


Last updated on 2025-12-08 at 07:14