An international research collaboration led by the John Innes Centre has used innovative genomic discovery methods to show how we might halt the emerging and highly destructive disease, wheat blast.
In experiments researchers identified two genes which protected experimental wheat plants against exposure to the fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae which causes blast.
To make the discovery, the team used a technique called AgRenSeq, which allowed them to search for useful genes among a panel of heritage wheat varieties called the Watkins Collection. They also searched among wild grass relatives of wheat.
The Watkins Collection was collected from around the world in the 1930s and consists of more than 300 wheat lines or landraces containing disease-fighting diversity that existed in wheat before intensive breeding. Such collections of locally grown crops have, along with wild grass relatives of wheat, become a vital resource for researchers seeking genes which protect modern crops from emerging diseases.
Professor Paul Nicholson, a group leader at the John Innes Centre said: “We have made an important discovery on an emerging disease that threatens global food security and, in the process, highlighted the power of the Watkins Collection and the AgRenSeq genomic toolkit. Now our role is to interact with organisations such as (global research non-profit) CIMMYT to provide information on additional resistance genes and enable them to ensure that their breeding materials contain these genes so that they are protected against blast.”
To identify resistance genes, researchers tested seedlings and spikes from the Watkins collection with specially modified isolates of the blast pathogen to identify which plants were resistant and which were susceptible to the fungus.
The collaboration which includes groups from Japan and Saudi Arabia now plans to make this information available to CIMMYT by providing genetic markers. These allow breeders to rapidly identify these genes in their collections and ensure that they include them in breeding blast resilient wheat cultivars.
Dr Sanu Arora first author of the study said: “The disastrous effect of wheat blast in the wheat belts of South America, South Asia and Africa is a warning bell for Europe. We are not certain if this disease is already sitting on the horizon of Europe but the disease could potentially travel through human migration or seed import, therefore, it is critically important to defend this vital crop against the looming threat.”
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