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Poster

Session: Session 2 Presenting Authors at Posters (Evens)

P-006 - Advancing resistance to Septoria nodorum blotch (SNB): Cloning novel susceptibility genes in wheat

Thursday, July 17, 2025
13:30 - 15:15  
Location: Confex Hall 3
Crop resistance genetics and genomics

    Presenting Author(s)

  • AP

    Asiri Anushka Padukka Vidanalage, MPhil (she/her/hers)

    Student
    Curtin University
    Bentley, WA, AUSTRALIA

    • Author(s)

  • EF

    Eiko Furuki

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

  • FK

    Fiona Kamphuis

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

  • KC

    Kasia Clarke

    Senior Research Officer
    Curtin University
    Bentley, Western Australia, Australia

  • SP

    Sambasivam Periyannan

    Associate Professor
    University of Southern Queensland
    Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia

  • MG

    Mark Gibberd

    Director, Centre for Crop and Disease Management
    Curtin University
    Bentley, Western Australia, Australia

  • HP

    Huyen Phan

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

Septoria nodorum blotch (SNB) is a major constrain to wheat production in some part of the world. The disease can reduce wheat quality and yield by up to 50% globally, with yield losses in Western Australia typically ranging from 5–15%. It is caused by the necrotrophic fungal pathogen Parastagonospora nodorum, which does not align with traditional plant defence theory but instead follows the inverse gene-for-gene model. SNB resistance is complex and influenced by multiple genes or quantitative trait loci (QTL). Infection occurs through interactions between necrotrophic effectors and corresponding dominant susceptibility genes in wheat. To investigate these mechanisms, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was used to identify susceptibility gene candidates which interact with a novel effector, SnTox8. Two candidate genes interacting with SnTox8, were identified based on RNA-seq data and QTL mapping. Fine mapping using a big Mace × Lancer F2 populations further confirm both genes are located within 500Mb interval associated with the response. Additionally, ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) mutagenesis was deployed to confirm gene functions. A near-perfect molecular marker was developed, with ongoing efforts to refine it into a perfect marker for marker-assisted selection (MAS) in wheat breeding programs. The markers derived from these cloned genes could be instrumental in developing SNB-resistant wheat varieties, supporting breeders in improving wheat disease resistance.