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The use of ethylene for immunization of spruce seedlings against pathogens and pests

IMMUSPRUCE

IMMUSPRUCE aims at improving the health Norway spruce seedlings in nursery and after outplanting in forest sites. Treatment of plants by phytohormones as elicitor of defense mechanisms has been shown to enhance their resistance to diverse pathogens and pests. IMMUSPRUCE will focus on the use of ethylene (ET) to treat Norway spruce seedlings in nursery. Optimizing the treatment conditions and characterizing the induced resistance require further research work.

A. To characterize the effect of ET on defense responses in spruce and the induced resistance against selected pathogens. Deliverable A: An optimized protocol for ET application to maximize defense responses and minimize any phytotoxic effects in spruce seedlings (Year 1 and 2)
B. To use ET to protect spruce seedlings against subsequent pathogen attacks in nurseries and after Outplanting. Deliverable B: A sustainable method for spruce seedling immunization using Cerone® (Year 2 and 3)