The plant pathogenic fungus Pyrenophora tritici-repentis secretes host-selective toxins (HSTs) that function as pathogenicity factors. Unlike most HSTs that are products of enzymatic pathways, at least two toxins produced by P. tritici-repentis are proteins and, thus, products of single genes. Sensitivity to these toxins in the host is conferred by a single gene for each toxin. To study the sit...

Stem rust caused by Puccinia graminis f.sp tritici Erik. & E. Henn. is a highly destructive disease of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The effects of fungicide application on stem rust (Puccinia graminis tritici) epidemics and yield of three bread wheat varieties varying in reaction to the disease were studied in two major wheat growing and stem rust prone districts (Agarfa and Sinana) of Bale, E...

In agro-ecosystems worldwide, some of the most important and devastating diseases are caused by soil-borne necrotrophic fungal pathogens, against which crop plants generally lack genetic resistance. However, plants have evolved approaches to protect themselves against pathogens by stimulating and supporting specific groups of beneficial microorganisms that have the ability to protect either by ...

Uromyces fabae is a major pathogen of broad bean, Vicia faba. U. fabae has served as a model among rust fungi to elucidate the development of infection structures, expression and secretion of cell wall degrading enzymes and gene expression. Using U. fabae, enormous progress was made regarding nutrient uptake and metabolism and in the search for secreted proteins and effectors. Here, we present ...

Searching for alternative methods to conventional pesticides against crop pathogens is an important challenge. In this way, we tested the potential of hops extracts to be used as a bio-fungicide towards Zymoseptoria tritici, the main pathogen on wheat crops in France and Europe. Hops is known for its numerous biological properties such as antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal potential for hu...

This study provides new insights into the role of photoprotection in preformed and induced defence two wheat genotypes with contrasting phenotypes to infection by Zymoseptoria tritici. We investigated mechanisms photoprotective response during early infection, including nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ), β-carotene-derived xanthophylls, reactive oxygen species, phytohormones abscisic acid (ABA),...

The wheat tan spot fungus (Pyrenophora tritici-repentis) produces a well-characterized host-selective toxin (HST) known as Ptr ToxA, which induces necrosis in genotypes that harbor the Tsn1 gene on chromosome 5B. In previous work, we showed that the Stagonospora nodorum isolate Sn2000 produces at least 2 HSTs (SnTox1 and SnToxA). Sensitivity to SnTox1 is governed by the Snn1 gene on chromosome ...

The ToxA gene of Pyrenophora tritici-repentis encodes a host-selective toxin (Ptr ToxA) that has been shown to confer pathogenicity when used to transform a non-pathogenic wheat isolate. Major karyotype polymorphisms between pathogenic and non-pathogenic strains, and to a lesser extent among pathogenic strains, and among non-pathogenic strains were identified. ToxA was localized to a 3.0 Mb chr...