Difference between revisions of "Team:Bordeaux/Template:OverviewTheProblem"

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             <h3>The Problem </h3>
 
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<h6 align="center"> This year, iGEM Bordeaux’s project focuses on Downy Mildew </h6>
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Tell us about your project, describe what moves you and why this is something important for your team. What should this page contain?
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    A clear and concise description of your project.
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    A detailed explanation of why your team chose to work on this particular project.
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    References and sources to document your research.
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Advice on writing your Project Description: We encourage you to put up a lot of information and content on your wiki, but we also encourage you to include summaries as much as possible. If you think of the sections in your project description as the sections in a publication, you should try to be consist, accurate and unambiguous in your achievements. Judges like to read your wiki and know exactly what you have achieved. This is how you should think about these sections; from the point of view of the judge evaluating you at the end of the year. </p>
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<p align ="justify"> iGEM teams are encouraged to record references you use during the course of your research. They should be posted somewhere on your wiki so that judges and other visitors can see how you though about your project and what works inspired you. </p>
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<p align="justify"> This disease, caused by an oomycete called <i> Plasmopara viticola </i> is unfortunately famous in the Aquitaine region because it affects tens of hectares of Bordeaux vineyards and has disastrous consequences on wine production. This disease was originally observed in the United States in 1834 and has been most abundantly found in the northern and midwestern areas of the United States. Shortly after, the pathogen was introduced in European countries where it played a devastating role in the yield and production of their grapes, and consequently their wine. In 1878, the first cases of downy mildew were observed in France in the region of Lyon and also in Swizerland and Italy. Even if some North american species have become resistant to this parasite through evolution, European species such as <i> Vitis vinifera </i>  (the cultivated grapevine used for wine) are extremely sensitive and this has lead vinyards to use whatever effective measures they can find to protect their vines. Depending on the year, production of grapes in France has been estimated to be at a loss of 50% or more. Because of numbers and results like these, downy mildew has been considered the most devastating disease of a filamentous pathogen to affect European vineyards. The Bordeaux region has a favorable climate for the development of Downy Mildew</p>
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<h6 align="center"> This year, iGEM Bordeaux’s project focuses on the Downy Mildew case.</h6>
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<p align = "justify"> This disease is unfortunately famous in Bordeaux region because it affects tens of hectares of Bordeaux vineyards. It had very bad consequences on production of wine. The Bordeaux region have a favorable climate for the development of Downy Mildew. It causes by an oomycete called Plasmopara Viticola.
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<p align="justify"> In the past few months (June 2015) there has been another violent attack of mildew on the grapevines in the Aquitaine region. Up to 60% of wine grapes have been infected on certain parcels and the vice president of the agriculture chamber, Patrick Vasseur, hasn't been underestimating the economic significance this could have since the wine production will evidently be affected. He calls the situation "exceptional" since "even the main branches are affected" </p>
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<br> It is an endemic species of North America that was only brought to Europe in the late 19th century. Even if some North american species have become resistant to this parasite through evolution, European species such as Vitis vinifera (the cultivated grapevine used for wine) are extreamly sensitive and this has lead vinyards to use whatever effective measures they can find to protect their vines.</p>
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<p align="justify"> Serge Audubert, head of 3 castles in the region and owning a total of 24 ha, has been watching the effects on his land. On his 17 ha of château-laborde grapevines, in Saint-Médard-de-Guizières, 2 ha are severly touched. « the leaves, the branches, the grapes, everything is affected. We are going to loose at least 50% of the grapes on these 2 ha. » On the first of may, this vinyard observed a spot on a branch, nothing severe especially since the « Bulletin de santé du végétal »  which came out a few days before clearly states that the conditions dont allow contaminations. As a precaution, Serge Audubert starts his preventive treatments on the 7th of may. On the 15th of May, the outburst starts, shicking the entire region: « I have been living here since 1987. I have never seen something like this. Informatics models were supposed to alert us when mildew evolution becomes dangerous. » </p>
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<h6 align="justify"> This year, mildew outburst are worrying vinyards in Aquitaine </h6>
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<p align="justify"> Our iGEM team has been following this year's effect of mildew closely reading the official vinyard mildew bulletins available on the vinopole website. We can see on the graph that there is a significant increase of mildew on parcels that haven't been treated with copper sulfate (TNT)whereas it's eveolution on treated parcels seams to be more controlable. this proves that downy mildew is still a constant threat to vinyards. </p>
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<img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/9/98/Bordeaux_statistics_Aquitaine.jpg" width="340" height="400">
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<p align="justify"> Aquitaine is one of the regions where the risksare the highest at the moment. However, the weather conditions are positive for the fllowing weeks since pluviometry is expected to decrease, rendering the conditions unfavorable to the development of downy mildew. </p>
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<h6> Infection Mode of Downy Mildew</h6>
 
<h6> Infection Mode of Downy Mildew</h6>
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<img src='http://www.agro.basf.fr/agroportal/fr/media/migrated/fr/images_2/hd_1/vigne_1/maladies_9/cycle_du_mildiou_vigne.jpg'>
 
<img src='http://www.agro.basf.fr/agroportal/fr/media/migrated/fr/images_2/hd_1/vigne_1/maladies_9/cycle_du_mildiou_vigne.jpg'>
  
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<p align=justify>In winter, Plasmopara viticola is present on death leaves on the ground as oospores. They are inactive and do not produce any symptoms. When rain falls a lot during spring, these eggs grows and release zoospores when the temperature exceeds 11 degrees. The zoopores will be able to spread and infect the plant's upper tissues through rainwater's splashes.
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<p align=justify> In winter, Plasmopara viticola is present on dead leaves on the ground as oospores. They are inactive and do not produce any symptoms. When rain falls during spring, these eggs grows and release zoospores when the temperature exceeds 11 degrees. The zoospores will be able to spread and infect the plant's upper tissues through rainwater's splashes.
 
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Revision as of 09:00, 13 July 2015

The Problem

This year, iGEM Bordeaux’s project focuses on Downy Mildew

This disease, caused by an oomycete called Plasmopara viticola is unfortunately famous in the Aquitaine region because it affects tens of hectares of Bordeaux vineyards and has disastrous consequences on wine production. This disease was originally observed in the United States in 1834 and has been most abundantly found in the northern and midwestern areas of the United States. Shortly after, the pathogen was introduced in European countries where it played a devastating role in the yield and production of their grapes, and consequently their wine. In 1878, the first cases of downy mildew were observed in France in the region of Lyon and also in Swizerland and Italy. Even if some North american species have become resistant to this parasite through evolution, European species such as Vitis vinifera (the cultivated grapevine used for wine) are extremely sensitive and this has lead vinyards to use whatever effective measures they can find to protect their vines. Depending on the year, production of grapes in France has been estimated to be at a loss of 50% or more. Because of numbers and results like these, downy mildew has been considered the most devastating disease of a filamentous pathogen to affect European vineyards. The Bordeaux region has a favorable climate for the development of Downy Mildew


In the past few months (June 2015) there has been another violent attack of mildew on the grapevines in the Aquitaine region. Up to 60% of wine grapes have been infected on certain parcels and the vice president of the agriculture chamber, Patrick Vasseur, hasn't been underestimating the economic significance this could have since the wine production will evidently be affected. He calls the situation "exceptional" since "even the main branches are affected"

Serge Audubert, head of 3 castles in the region and owning a total of 24 ha, has been watching the effects on his land. On his 17 ha of château-laborde grapevines, in Saint-Médard-de-Guizières, 2 ha are severly touched. « the leaves, the branches, the grapes, everything is affected. We are going to loose at least 50% of the grapes on these 2 ha. » On the first of may, this vinyard observed a spot on a branch, nothing severe especially since the « Bulletin de santé du végétal » which came out a few days before clearly states that the conditions dont allow contaminations. As a precaution, Serge Audubert starts his preventive treatments on the 7th of may. On the 15th of May, the outburst starts, shicking the entire region: « I have been living here since 1987. I have never seen something like this. Informatics models were supposed to alert us when mildew evolution becomes dangerous. »


This year, mildew outburst are worrying vinyards in Aquitaine



Our iGEM team has been following this year's effect of mildew closely reading the official vinyard mildew bulletins available on the vinopole website. We can see on the graph that there is a significant increase of mildew on parcels that haven't been treated with copper sulfate (TNT)whereas it's eveolution on treated parcels seams to be more controlable. this proves that downy mildew is still a constant threat to vinyards.

Aquitaine is one of the regions where the risksare the highest at the moment. However, the weather conditions are positive for the fllowing weeks since pluviometry is expected to decrease, rendering the conditions unfavorable to the development of downy mildew.









Infection Mode of Downy Mildew

In winter, Plasmopara viticola is present on dead leaves on the ground as oospores. They are inactive and do not produce any symptoms. When rain falls during spring, these eggs grows and release zoospores when the temperature exceeds 11 degrees. The zoospores will be able to spread and infect the plant's upper tissues through rainwater's splashes.
The primary contamination begins by the emission of a filament through the stomatal area where the parasite begins to develop sinkers from which is formed the mycelial network. These sinkers help to feed Plasmopara viticola by stealing the nutrient substrate of the plant. That’s create discolored and yellowish areas on leaves called “oil stain” on the upperside of the leaf. After, on the underside, conidiophores and conidia are formed. These symptoms cause damages to the leaves’ tissues and affect the plant’s photosynthetic ability, that slows down the maturity of the plant.
During the secondary contamination, conidia are transformed in zoospores that contaminate the surrounding tissues, weakening the plant even more and creating unreparable lesions.

Since repairing damaged tissues infected by downy mildew is impossible, the main solutions available to vinyards are preventive solutions, mainly through preventing primary infections. This is mainly done by spraying fungicides on the organs that are most infected: leaves and stems. The most efficient preventive treatment was discovered at the end of the 19th century: a solution made of copper sulfate also known as "Bouillie Bordelaise", the only treatment used until the end of the 20th century. Recently, synthetic fungicides have replaced this chemical treatment and more and more research is being done on alternative eco-friendly preventive treatments

Different models (Caffi model, Potential systems model) take into account pluviometry, temperature, relative humidity and plant morphology to decide when are the best moments to apply the fungicides. However, even if these models have allowed vinyards to drastically reduce the quantities of fungicides used, they still cause environmental and sanitary problems in the surrounding regions.



A bit of History

In 2010, each hectar or grapevine had received around 16 chemical treatments (this number was 15 in 2006) and varies greatly between regions. Amongst the biological threats on grapevine, mushroom parasites are far ahead of insects and fungi (12 fungicides are used against 2 insecticides and 2 weedkillers). Over 95% of the fongicide treatments in 2010 were due to mildew and oidium, sicknesses that are favorized by rain, humidity and heat. They bring the global quality of the wine down by reducing it's composition in phenols and sugars

The risc of contamination on the leaves begin during the period where the floral buds and futur grapes are growing and lasts until the moment when the grapes touch each other. The sensibility period between oidium and mildew have common momments and vinyards don't heasitate to mix anti-mildew and anti-oidium solutions making the concentrations of these chemicals twice more concentrated in the grounds.

What are the problems with these treatments? Are they really efficient?

To have a really efficient treatment what would you need?

little comics ?