Bioindicators for crop resilience against biotic stress (D1.3)

Septoria tritici blotch (STB) is the most important disease for wheat production in Western Europe. STB is caused by the fungal pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici and there is currently no variety available with durable resistance to STB. As a result, farmers rely heavily on the use of fungicide inputs to preserve yield and hence the profitability of their farming enterprise. Prior to the appearance of visual STB symptoms in the crop, there is a symptomless phase (‘latent period’; for up to 30 days depending on the environmental conditions) during which STB advances unchecked through the host plant. Once the LP concludes, there is a rapid production of spores from the infected leaf, thereby advancing STB spread through the crop and ensuring an epidemic of the disease across the landscape. Previous work has concluded that a longer latent phase is a desirable trait to define quantitative/durable resistance of wheat against STB (Hehir et al. 2018). This deliverable is tasked with investigating the ability of varieties to slow down the LP, which could be used as a bio-indicator to support reducing the potential of STB to spread through a crop and indeed across the landscape. The impact of using molecular diagnostics to explore this phenomenon will be discussed and results from 3 field evaluations across 2 years presented with a list of recommendations on how this approach could be further progressed to assist in VCU testing.

The deliverable report can be accessed here.

The deliverables published on the INVITE website are public and have been approved by the European Commission.