Researchers from Rothamsted Research (UK) and Plant Research International have discovered a single locus in wild wheat Triticum monococcum that provides resistance to Septoria tritici. This is currently the major wheat disease in Western Europe. The fungal disease can result in 50% loss of yield.
Photograph: Septoria tritici infection in wheat
In Western Europe, approximately 27 million ha of wheat are grown. Most of this wheat is bread wheat, which is used for making bread, cookies and pastries. In the Middle East, more than 40 million ha of durum wheat are grown for pasta and other dough products. Although the deployment of the new resistance gene will take considerable effort, it does offer possibilities for breeders to develop new Septoria-resistant wheat varieties.
The study was conducted by researchers from Rothamsted, UK, who used the well-characterised Mycosphaerella-isolate collection of Plant Research International.