CSIRO enlisted to avert international wheat crisis

CSIRO is participating in international efforts to help find solutions to a devastating new strain of wheat disease threatening global wheat production and world food supplies.

Cornell University USA, with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Global Development Program, has subcontracted CSIRO to research Ug99 – a strain of the wheat fungus black stem rust – as part of the Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat project.

Ug99 poses a major threat to wheat growing areas in the Middle East and Asia and could also pose a bio-security threat to Australia.

Leading rust researchers, Dr Evans Lagudah and Dr Michael Ayliffe from CSIRO Plant Industry in Canberra will undertake the CSIRO component of the Australian Ug99 research. 

Dr Lagudah will research rust resistance genes effective against Ug99. He hopes to identify DNA markers for these genes which would help wheat breeders incorporate desirable genes into new varieties quickly.

Dr Ayliffe will expand his research into what protects rice, which is immune to rust, and if this mechanism can be transferred to wheat to protect it.

This research is part of CSIRO’s broader aim to tackle pests and diseases in Australian grain crops and provide better food security for the future

The University of Sydney and The University of Adelaide are also involved in the research, which complements wheat rust research being funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation.

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