Award details

Using field pathogenomics to study wheat yellow rust dispersal and population dynamics at a national and international scale

Reference	BBS/E/T/000GP050
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Diane Saunders
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors	Dr Robert Davey
Institution	Earlham Institute
Department	Earlham Institute Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	96,870
Status	Completed
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/07/2015
End date	28/02/2017
Duration	19 months

Abstract

Wheat yellow rust caused by the fungus Puccinia striiformis f. sp tritici is a substantial threat to wheat production worldwide and recently re-emerged as a major constraint on UK agriculture. Its importance to global food security is reflected by the significant contribution of wheat to the calorific and protein intake of human kind (approximately 20%). The devastating impact of this disease gives a deep sense of urgency to breeders, farmers and end users to improve surveillance. The overall aim of this project is to apply our recently developed “field pathogenomics” genomics-based pathogen surveillance technique to the surveillance of yellow rust, and undertake comprehensive global population genetic analyses of this important plant pathogen. The proposed research aims to: (1) Analyze the threat of potential exotic incursions of wheat yellow rust to the UK by mapping the global population structure, (2) exploit rust pathogen genotype data to confirm outbreaks on particular wheat varieties and look for associations between pathogen genotypes and host pedigrees, (3) generate information on whether genotypic diversity shifts over time at a locality and whether early appearing rust genotypes are predictive of late season genotypes and (4) develop appropriate open-source tools to ensure all data generated herein is released into the public domain as soon as possible and in a format that is suitable for breeders, pathologists and the wider demographic. This project aims to equip the UK with the latest genomic tools, facilitate more efficient varietal development by breeders, and help reduce the environmental and economic costs associated with fungicide applications, all of which will have a positive impact on the overall competitiveness and sustainability of the UK arable industry.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Not funded via Committee
Research Topics	Crop Science, 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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