Fungal disease Fusarium head blight (FHB) is on the rise due to increasingly humid conditions induced by climate change during the wheat growing season, but a fundamental discovery by University of Adelaide researchers could help reduce its economic harm.
Fungal disease Fusarium head blight (FHB) is on the rise due to increasingly humid conditions induced by climate change during the wheat growing season, but a fundamental discovery by University of Adelaide researchers could help reduce its economic harm.
While some types of wheat are resistant to FHB thanks to the action of the TaHRC gene at the Fhb1 locus, how this gene functions in wheat cells was unknown until now.
Collaborating with Nanjing Agriculture University, the University of Adelaide research team has shown TaHRC works in the nucleus of wheat cells, and it can either increase or decrease a plant’s susceptibility to FHB.
“There are two variants of TaHRC that have opposing effects on the condensation of a specific protein complex within the nucleus,” says Dr Xiujuan Yang, from the University’s School of Agriculture, Food and Wine.
Read more at University of Adelaide
Photo Credit: Hans via Pixabay
