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Pathogenicity of non-biotrophic fungi infecting cereals

Reference	BBS/E/C/00004973
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Kim Hammond-Kosack
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors
Institution	Rothamsted Research
Department	Rothamsted Research Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	946,585
Status	Completed
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/04/2008
End date	31/03/2012
Duration	48 months

Abstract

The focus of this project is Fusarium ear blight (FEB) disease caused by the fungi Fusarium culmorum and Fusarium graminearum. FEB, commonly known as head scab in the USA, can have a profound effect on wheat grain quality and food safety due to the production of trichothecene mycotoxins. In May 2003, the complete genome of F. graminearum was sequenced to a 10 X coverage at the Broad Institute Boston, USA. (http://www.broad.mit.edu/annotation/fungi/fusarium/). The Current Research Areas are: - Development of specific F. graminearum and F. culmorum reporter strains to explore in planta the spatial and temporal development of fungal hyphae and trichothecene mycotoxin production. These studies primarily involve the green fluorescent protein (GFP) and beta-glucuronidase (GUS) enzyme. - Exploration of the plant and fungal genes controlling the induction of trichothecene mycotoxin production in planta. - Identification of F. graminearum pathogenicity genes required to cause disease on wheat ears and stem bases. - Characterisation of resistant wheat germplasm that minimises mycotoxin accumulation in the harvested grain. The experimental techniques used include fungal transformation, genetic screens, biochemistry, bioinformatic analyses, inoculation of wheat and Arabidopsis plants and growth of in vitro fungal cultures.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Closed Committee - Plant & Microbial Sciences (PMS)
Research Topics	Crop Science, Microbial Food Safety, Microbiology, Plant Science
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	X - not in an Initiative
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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