Generating a rapid and low-cost diagnosis of fungi on wheat

Term: 3 years, beginning in 2021

Status: Ongoing

Funding Amount: $66,775

Lead Researcher(s): Dr. Sean Walkowiak (Canadian Grain Commission)

Funding Partners: Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF), Manitoba Crop Alliance (MCA)

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Project Description

Fungal pathogens, such as Fusarium and rust fungi (stripe, leaf, and stem), are major threats to wheat production, grain safety, and food security in Canada and worldwide. The disease monitoring programs at the Canadian Grain Commission and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada monitor for Fusarium and rust fungi on wheat, which provides important information to improve disease management practices. Current methods for biotyping microbes in wheat are time consuming, laborious, and expensive. In this project, the team will validate a mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF) which can discriminate Fusarium and rust species, fungicide resistance and virulence patterns within the species, which will provide a powerful tool for both Fusarium and rust monitoring in wheat.

The overall goal of this proposal is to update the databases with microbes and to develop a reference panel and to evaluate the ability for MALDI-TOF to differentiate species, races, chemotypes, and fungicide resistance. Once databases and protocols have been validated, MALDI-TOF could be used for routine biotyping of fungi, thereby complementing, or replacing existing methods at a fraction of the cost. This approach can be used as part of annual surveys of Fusarium and rust fungi, to monitor the emergence of new fungal populations that are more aggressive, which will enable better planning for management of such threats.