A 2018 survey of 543 canola crops across Alberta for the presence of clubroot bacteria confirmed no cases of contamination in the County of Grande Prairie.
The study confirmed a total 300 newly discovered cases of the disease, most severely afflicting the central areas of the province, while spreading throughout the Peace Country and southern Alberta.
A soil-borne disease of cruciferous plants, clubroot bacteria causes swelling or galls to form on the roots of plants that lead to premature death of the plant. There are currently no economical control measures able to remove the pathogen from an infested field.
Since its initial detection in 2003, there have been 3044 documented cases of clubroot bacteria across the province.
Clubroot spores, once stimulated to germinate by plant roots, release zoospores which swim towards root hairs through a film of water. In wet soil, spores will spread much faster, versus when they are trapped in dry soil and die off before infecting roots.
Both susceptible and resistant strains of plants will become infected by zoospores in these conditions, however in resistant plants, once spores are attached to the roots, the spores are unable to penetrate the flesh of the roots and further harm the plants.
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