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Modelling airborne inoculum and plant-pathogen interactions for enhancing potato late blight support systems by Vivien LE VOURCH -
Vendredi 06/02/2026 à 16h15 - Salle Océan (B.002) - Bâtiment de Serres - Croix du Sud - 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve -
Potato late blight (PLB), caused by Phytophthora infestans, remains one of the most damaging diseases affecting potato crops worldwide and a major challenge for agriculture. To reduce the use of pesticides, improving the biological relevance of disease forecasting tools is essential. This thesis combines aerobiology, epidemiology, machine learning, and host–pathogen interaction studies to enhance risk assessment and contribute to next-generation decision support systems for PLB management.
A regional aerobiological monitoring network revealed persistent and spatially heterogeneous airborne inoculum dynamics, often preceding field symptoms and occasionally occurring outside the growing season, highlighting airborne inoculum as a reliable early indicator of epidemic onset. Artificial neural network models based solely on meteorological variables successfully predicted significant inoculum events, demonstrating the potential of artificial intelligence for early-warning systems.
The thesis further investigates isolate–cultivar interactions using controlled inoculation assays with representative Belgian P. infestans genotypes. Strong genotype-by-cultivar effects and intra-lineage variability in aggressiveness were identified, particularly at low inoculum doses relevant for epidemic initiation. Integrating these traits with pathogen population dynamics markedly improved the prediction of field disease severity. Overall, this work provides an integrated, ecologically grounded framework for improving PLB forecasting and supporting more sustainable crop protection strategies.
Jury members :
Prof. Anne Legrève (UCLouvain) (Supervisor)
Prof. Stéphane Declerck (UCLouvain) (Chairperson)
Prof. Claude Bragard (UCLouvain) (Secretary)
Prof. Nicolas Desoignies (Condorcet, Belg.)
Prof. Ali Siah (Junia, Fr.)
Pay attention : the public defense of Vivien LE VOURCH will also take place in the form of a videoconference - (Numéro de réunion : 385 669 639 197 12 -
Code secret : yy95S2DP)
