Australian, Chinese researchers make breakthrough in fighting wheat disease

CANBERRA, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Australian and Chinese researchers have made a breakthrough in the fight against a devastating wheat disease.

In a new research, a team from the University of Adelaide in collaboration with the Nanjing Agriculture University found that the cereal crop gene TaHRC can increase or decrease a plant's susceptibility to the fungal disease Fusarium head blight (FHB).

Yang Xiujuan, a co-author of the research from the University of Adelaide's School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, said she is hopeful that the discovery of TaHRC's function in wheat cells could counteract a rise in the prevalence of FHB.

It was previously unknown why some types of wheat are resistant to FHB.

Yang said the research found there are two variants of TaHRC, one that increases susceptibility to FHB by condensing a specific protein within the nucleus of a wheat cell, and the other one that reduces susceptibility by diffusing the same protein.

"Our findings offer exciting prospects for developing new and enhanced forms of Fusarium head blight resistance," Yang said in a media release.

"Our research opens the door to the development of more resilient and sustainable wheat varieties for future agriculture, and might shed light onto other Fusarium-caused diseases, such as crown rot."

Also known as scab or tombstone, FHB is a serious disease that affects wheat, barley, oats, corn and other cereal grains. An outbreak in eastern Australia in 2022 caused crops to suffer yield losses of up to 100 percent.

According to the study, climate change has driven a rise in the prevalence of FHB globally since the 1970s due to increasingly humid conditions during the wheat growing season.