Description

Stagonospora nodorum blotch (SNB: aka Stagonospora glume blotch (SGB) or glume blotch), Septoria tritici blotch (STB; aka speckled leaf spot), and tan spot (aka yellow leaf spot), caused by Parastagonospora nodorum, Zymoseptoria tritici, and Pyrenophora tritici-repentis, respectively, often occurring together, are three economically significant wheat diseases. These diseases have the potential to reduce test weight and yield by 50% (McMullen and Adhikari, 2021). Differentiating these diseases in the field can be difficult because the symptoms bear a resemblance to one another and often infect the same plant simultaneously (Freije and Wise, 2015).

NAGC has optimized an assay so that the three wheat leaf blotch disease-causing fungal species can be identified, differentiated, and quantified in a single triplex reaction. This high-throughput detection assay will help characterize and quantitate these diseases to mitigate the diseases properly.

This project was funded in part by the National Predictive Modeling Tool Initiative

References

Freije, A. & Wise, K. 2015. Stagonospora Glume Blotch. Diseases of Wheat. Lafayette, IN: Purdue University.

McMullen, M. & Adhikari, T. 2021. Fungal Leaf Spot Diseases of Wheat: Tan spot, Septoria/Stagonospora nodorum blotch and Septoria tritici blotch. In: FRISKOP, A. & LIU, Z. (eds.) Plant Disease Management, NDSU Extension. Fargo, ND: North Dakota State University.