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The biggest genomic sequencing project in the Southern Hemisphere has been completed at Murdoch University, identifying the genetic make-up of the fungal pathogen Stagonospora nodorum.
The fungus causes the wheat disease Septoria nodorum blotch (SNB), which results in an annual damage bill of around $60 million to (mainly Western) Australian crops.
The research has been accepted for publication by Plant Cell, the world’s most prestigious plant research journal.
Professor Richard Oliver, who headed up the research team at the Australian Centre for Necrotrophic Fungal Pathogens, said that the completion of this sequence provided a new approach to battle major diseases in wheat.
“Fungicides and breeding for plant genetic resistance are currently the main forms of control used by farmers against SNB,” Professor Oliver said.
“Fungicides are effective but they are expensive and need repeated application. Breeding wheat to improve disease resistance has so far been a complex, expensive and not overly successful process.
“The sequence of Stagonospora has provided us with a map of how this fungus works, and therefore the chance to find new ways to control it.”
“Our main goal in obtaining the genome was to identify all the genes in the fungus so that we could suggest new approaches to controlling the disease. This has succeeded beyond our most optimistic dreams,” he said.
“Now that we have the genome sequenced, we can dissect the reaction by the much simpler and more cost-effective process of mapping the toxin receptors in the host wheat.”
During the sequencing of S. nodorum earlier this year, Professor Oliver’s team made the extraordinary discovery that this fungus has the ability to swap genes with related pathogens.
“Stagonospora nodorum is closely related to a range of fungal diseases that affect wheat, barley, canola and legumes. It looks like many of these diseases are also controlled by toxins.
“We believe that the completion of this sequencing project provides us with knowledge that we can apply to other major fungal diseases. Future work will focus on sequencing more strains of S. nodorum and related fungal pathogens.
“We have seen that genome sequencing can be the dam breaker that allows us to attack these other scourges.”
Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.
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