Plant Pathology (2023) 72, 972-984

Sarrah Ben M'Barek, Marwa Laribi, Wided Abdedayem, Moez Fakhfakh and Amor Hassine Yahyaoui (2023)
Specific virulence patterns in Tunisian Zymoseptoria tritici strains isolated from bread and durum wheat
Plant Pathology 72 (5), 972-984
Abstract: Septoria tritici blotch caused by Zymoseptoria tritici is a serious threat to wheat in Tunisia, causing yield losses of up to 50%. Epidemics occur regularly, mainly on durum wheat (DW) but also to a lesser extent on bread wheat (BW), that are mainly cropped in the north-western and north-eastern regions, respectively. Isolates of Z. tritici exhibit both cultivar specificity and host species specificity. In this study, we investigated the extent of host specialization of Z. tritici in the Tunisian context. Cross-inoculations of different strains derived from either BW or DW were performed at the seedling stage on a panel of the most cultivated BW and DW varieties in Tunisia using the percentage of pycnidia coverage and necrotic leaf area as disease parameters. Results showed that the effect of strains, the strain-derived species, the wheat species and of their interactions were highly significant based on pycnidia coverage. This indicates the presence of significant virulence variability among Z. tritici strains on the tested wheat genotypes, with some strains being more virulent than others. It also suggests cultivar and host species specificity, as not only genotypes of the strains interacted differently with the genotypes of the host, but also the origin of the strain, whether BW or DW, influenced the disease outcome. Hence, future research based on comparative genomics coupled with transcriptomics of these strains and their progenies could determine genes whose expression control this host specificity or is influenced by host or strain genotype, or alternatively by life cycle stage.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Amor Yahyaoui

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution
resistance/tolerance/defence of host

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Zymoseptoria tritici	Wheat (Triticum)	Tunisia