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Section Title

Multi-pronged fusarium head blight management strategy in western canada through insight into pathogen virulence mechanisms

Crop Types
  • Barley
  • Wheat

Summary

The deliverables of this project will complement other national and international efforts for the identification of virulence genes in F. graminearum, which are mainly focused on reverse genetic studies, meanwhile it exemplifies the necessity of integrating forward and reverse genetics to accelerate the gene isolation processes. In addition, this study will be a meaningful step toward isolating FHB susceptibility genes in wheat by providing insight on their collaborative function with the pathogen’s virulence and DON production genes.

Key Takeaways

  • Developed a nested association mapping population (FgNAM) and generated chromosome-scale genome assemblies of the founders, enabling high-resolution PAN-genome analysis aimed at identifying core and accessory genes underlying F. graminearum aggressiveness.
  • Showed that secretome and CAZY’s gene variation conform to the 3-ADON and 15-ADON sub-populations separation, while variation in candidate effectors does not follow this pattern.
  • Discovered a novel QTL for aggressiveness on a sub-telomeric region of chromosome 3, explaining 8.2% of phenotypic variance in disease severity and encompassing 36 genes, including mic19 and FLA uniquely associated with high-aggressiveness 3-ADON strains.
  • Demonstrated, via CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, that a multi-drug transporter and an Zn transcription factor contribute to higher aggressiveness and reduce sensitivity to triazole fungicide, indicating pleiotropic effects of aggressiveness genes on fungicide tolerance.
  • Untargeted metabolomics profiling classified isolates into three groups based on secondary metabolite production, with Saskatchewan isolates characterized by elevated production of aurofusarin and fusahexin, highlighting the metabolic diversity relevant to pathogen adaptation and virulence.

Project Details

Principal Investigator
Dr. Curtis Pozniak
Project Status
Completed
Start Date
2020
Completion Date
2025
Funding Partners
ADF, WGRF, AWC, SWDC
Total Project Cost
580000
MCA Funding
27600

Field Issues

  • Disease

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