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Poster

Session: Session 1 Presenting Authors at Posters (Evens)

P-114 - Evidence of spatial divergence of Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici pathotypes in Australia

Tuesday, July 15, 2025
09:55 - 11:30  
Location: Confex Hall 3
Management of diseases and emerging diseases

    Author(s)

  • AT

    Ancy Tony

    Curtin University
    Perth, Western Australia, Australia

  • SE

    Simon Ellwood

    Curtin University
    Perth, Western Australia, Australia

  • HP

    Huyen Phan

    Centre for Crop and Disease Management (CCDM)
    Bentley, Western Australia, Australia

  • DM

    Daniel Mullan

    Intergrain Pty Ltd
    Perth, Western Australia, Australia

  • BS

    Ben Saunders

    Curtin University
    Perth, Western Australia, Australia

  • FL

    Fran Lopez Ruiz

    Curtin University
    Perth, Western Australia, Australia

    • Presenting Author(s)

  • KT

    Kar-Chun Tan

    Curtin University
    Bentley, Western Australia, Australia

Wheat powdery mildew (WPM) is caused by the obligate biotrophic fungus Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici (Bgt). WPM contributes to major yield losses and economic damage to the Australian cereal industry. Current strategies to mitigate the impact of WPM include crop rotation, chemical control and genetic resistance. However, due to the common and continuous use of fungicides, fungicide-resistant WPM have been reported across Australia. This highlights the genetic resistance is an effective and sustainable solution to control WPM. There are no reports on the pathotype or population structure of Australian Bgt, nor the WPM resistance gene complements in Australian wheat varieties. In this study, Bgt isolates were collected from across Australia between 2020 and 2024. We assessed the level of virulence of these Bgt isolates using a diverse wheat panel consisting of varieties with defined WPM resistance (R) genes. Differences in aggressiveness level of Bgt isolates on the panel were observed. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) of virulence data revealed evidence of multiple distinct Bgt pathotypes that are distributed across different wheat growing regions. Analysis of wheat variety resistance identified major R genes such as Pm3a, Pm16, Pm4a, Pm4b and Pm2 that are effective against Bgt isolates tested. Thus, we recommend strategically stacking and deploying these R genes into commercially grown wheat varieties to prolong genetic resistance and minimise the impact of WPM.