Australia
July 9, 2010

Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) funded research in Western Australia has identified genetic material which could be used to reduce the impact of some fungal diseases on legumes and other crops.

Fungal diseases cause yield losses typically greater than 25 per cent in Australian legumes and have threatened the viability of some crops.

The need for more profitable legume varieties was the top priority identified at an industry consultation forum hosted by the GRDC in WA this year.

The GRDC funded project ‘Genetic dissection of fungal disease resistance in legumes’ has generated genetic material with resistance to the pathogen Rhizoctonia solani, which causes root rot in all legumes as well as cereals and canola.

It has also identified genetic material resistant to the exotic fungal disease Fusarium oxysporum, which causes wilt diseases and could devastate Australia’s legume industry if exotic strains are introduced into the country.

The project is being led by Karam Singh, program leader at CSIRO Plant Industry in WA and Winthrop Professor at the University of WA (UWA), and also involves the GRDC supported Australian Research Centre for Necrotrophic Fungal Pathogens (ACNFP) in WA.

The research was presented by Professor Singh at the recent GRDC supported International Legume Conference in Turkey. The GRDC provided funding for Australian researchers to attend the event.

Professor Singh said growers would benefit from significant yield increases and savings on inputs including fungicides if results achieved in the laboratory for Rhizoctonia root rot were translated to the field.
“Rhizoctonia root rot affects Australian cereal crops as well as legumes, causing yield losses in cereals of up to 50 per cent and annual losses of $77 million,” he said.

“It is difficult to control because of limited rotational controls and a lack of resistant cultivars,” he said.

“The research into F. oxysporum – one of the most damaging pathogens in legumes worldwide - means Australian legume growers will be better prepared if any of the wilt diseases enter Australia.”

The GRDC project has tested fungal pathogens on germplasm, mainly from the pasture legume Medicago truncatula, used because of its simple genetic structure, short life cycle and genetic variation.

“The project screened a number of different pathogens to try to find genetic variation in the susceptibility of germplasm to R solani and F. oxysporum,” Professor Singh said.

“We have found strong natural resistance in Medicago germplasm to F. oxysporum and have mapped the genetic material underlying that resistance.

“We have been unable to find strong resistance to R. solani in Medicago but have used a novel approach to develop effective resistance to the pathogen.”

The genetic material identified with resistance to F. oxysporum and R. solani can potentially be deployed in breeding programs to help develop new legume varieties with resistance to root rot and wilt diseases.

As part of the project, researchers are developing collaborations with scientists at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in India to investigate Fusarium wilt in chickpeas.

“Expertise gained from the research work is also being used in genomic projects on narrow leafed lupins in WA to help improve the suitability of lupins as a human food,” Professor Singh said.
“This will have flow-on benefits in terms of demand and price for WA growers.”

Professor Singh’s talk at the International Legume Conference in Turkey also presented research work into insect resistance in plants associated with the GRDC funded fungal disease resistance project.

“Both projects are important for capacity building relating to molecular plant pathology in WA and to identify effective ways with which plants resist some of their enemies,” he said.

Website: http://www.grdc.com.au

Published: July 9, 2010