Abstract Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria strains from special formulations have been used to optimize eucalyptus cutting production. To undertake quality control for the formulated products, the rhizobacterial strains should be characterized to assess their purity and authentication. In the present study, we characterized nine strains of rhizobacteria, including three Bacillus subtilis (S1, S2 and 3918), two Pseudomonas sp. (MF4 and FL2), P. putida (MF2), P. fulva (Ca), Frateuria aurantia (R1), and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (CIIb). The strains were differentiated by colony morphology after 24 h of incubation in three different solid state culture media (glucose-nutritive agar, 523 medium and yeast extract-mannitol agar), sensitivity to a panel of 28 antibiotics (expressed according to the formation of inhibition halos of bacterial growth in the presence of antibiotics), and PCR-RFLP profiles of the 16S rDNA gene produced using nine restriction enzymes. It was possible to differentiate all nine strains of rhizobacteria using their morphological characteristics and sensitivity to antibiotics. The molecular analysis allowed us to separate the strains CIIb, FL2 and R1 from the strains belonging to the genera Bacillus and Pseudomonas. By using these three methods concomitantly, we were able to determine strain purity and perform the authentication.

A ferrugem do eucalipto (Puccinia psidii) é atualmente uma das principais enfermidades em plantios comerciais de eucalipto no Brasil. Dentre as diferentes espécies de eucalipto, Eucalyptus pellita é apontada como uma promissora fonte de resistência. Neste trabalho estudou-se o controle genético da resistência à ferrugem em E. pellita por meio de inoculações em condições controladas de 441 plantas oriundas de quatro progênies. As inoculações foram realizadas com o isolado monopostular UFV-2, raça 1. Todas as progênies segregaram para resistência à ferrugem, sendo o número de plantas resistentes superior em todos os cruzamentos. Modelos de herança baseados em poucos genes não explicaram totalmente os padrões de segregação obtidos. A herdabilidade no sentido restrito da resistência à ferrugem foi estimada entre 32,7% a 37,3%. Os resultados obtidos sugerem que a resistência à ferrugem em E. pellita é complexa, sendo governada por genes de efeito maior e menor.

Eucalypts rust (Puccinia psidii) is currently one of the major diseases in commercial eucalypt plantations in Brazil. The primary method of disease control is the use of resistant genotypes, and, among the different species of Eucalyptus, E. pellita is indicated as a promising source of resistance. In this work, the genetic control of rust resistance in E. pellita through inoculations under controlled conditions of 441 plants from four full-sibling families was studied. Inoculations were performed using the monopostular isolate UFV-2, race 1. All families tested segregated for rust resistance, and the number of resistant plants was higher than susceptible in all crosses. Inheritance models based on few genes did not fully explain the observed segregation patterns, and the narrow-sense heritability of rust resistance was estimated between 32.7% and 37.3%. The results suggested that rust resistance in E. pellita is complex and is controlled by major- and minor-effect genes.

A new foliar disease caused by Teratosphaeria pseudoeucalypti on eucalyptus (E. globulus, E. urophylla x E. globulus and E. nitens x E. globulus) in Brazil is described . The disease is characterized by leaf spots of variable sizes and shapes, resulting in leaf blight and premature defoliation. Based on the morphological characteristics and multilocus phylogenetic analysis of the EF-1α, β-T and ITS-2 gene regions of five isolates, the fungus was identified as T. pseudoeucalypti. This is the first report of this pathogen outside Australia and a method for sporulation in culture is described.

No Brasil, a ferrugem causada por Puccinia psidii Winter destaca-se como a mais importante doença do eucalipto. O uso de genótipos resistentes é o principal método de controle, o que torna a detecção de marcadores ligados a resistência à ferrugem essencial para a seleção de genótipos resistentes. Neste estudo, uma progênie F1 composta por 131 plantas derivadas de um cruzamento interespecífico de Eucalyptus.Um mapa integrado foi construído para o grupo de ligação três com base em marcadores microssatélites. Para detecção de QTL foram utilizadas duas metodologias baseadas em alelos idênticos por descendência (IBD): marca simples de Haseman and Elston e mapeamento por intervalo de Fulker and Cardon. Ambas as metodologias evidenciaram associação mais significativa para o marcador Embra 125. O QTL que explicou 42 % da variação fenotípica foi mapeado a 0,02 cM desse marcador pela metodologia de intervalo de Fulker and Cardon. O marcador Embra125 têm potencial utilização em seleção assistida, com conseqüente aumento na eficiência durante a seleção de genótipos resistentes.

In Brazil the rust caused by Puccinia psidii Winter stands out as the most important disease of eucalyptus. The use of resistant genotypes is the main control method, which makes the detection of markers linked to rust resistance essential to the selection of resistant genotypes. In this study, an F1 progeny of 131 plants from interspecific crossings of Eucalyptus was used to identify markers linked to resistance genes for this pathogen. An integrated map was constructed for linkage group three based on microsatellite markers. For QTL mapping two methodologies based on alleles identical-by-descent (IBD) were used: single marker analysis of Haseman and Elston and the interval mapping procedure of Fulker and Cardon. Both methods showed significant association for the Embra 125 marker.The QTL that explained 42 % of the phenotypic variation was mapped to 0.02 cM of this marker by the Fulker and Cardon. Marker Embra 125 has potential use in assisted selection, thus increasing the efficiency of the selection of resistant genotypes.

Chrysophorte cubensis induced canker occurs in nearly all tropical and subtropical regions where eucalypts are planted, causing losses in both wood quality and volume productivity, especially so in the warmer and more humid regions of Brazil. The wide inter and intra-specific genetic variability of resistance to canker among Eucalyptus species facilitates the selection of resistant plants. In this study, we evaluated resistance to this pathogen in five Eucalyptus grandis (G) and 15 E. urophylla (U) trees, as well as in 495 individuals from 27 progenies derived from crosses between the trees. In the field, six-months-old test seedlings were inoculated with C. cubensis. Lesion length in the xylem and bark was measured eight months later. The results demonstrated that xylem lesions could preferentially be used for the selection of resistant clones. Eight trees (7 U and 1 G) were susceptible, and the remainder (8 U and 4 G) resistant. Individual narrow and broad sense heritability estimates were 17 and 81%, respectively, thereby suggesting that canker resistance is quantitative and highly dependent on dominance and epistasis.