Scientists, breeders, farmers and conservation groups must continue to work in close collaboration to prepare for the potential re-emergence of a forgotten crop pathogen, a new study advises today.
Work between groups has already started following the discovery of a single wheat plant infected with stem rust - the first confirmed case of the plant disease in the UK in over 60 years. Stem rust of wheat and barley has throughout history been associated with crop failure and famine, and has recently re-emerged in western Europe.
Following the discovery of a single infected wheat plant in Suffolk in 2013, Dr Diane Saunders and Dr Brande Wulff from the John Innes Centre in Norwich, led a global team of collaborators to carry out genetic tests that compared this strain to the dominant global populations of the pathogen.
Their results showed that the UK strain belongs to the Digalu race of the fungus, which was responsible for a devastating outbreak of stem rust in Ethiopia in 2013, and smaller outbreaks in Sweden, Denmark, and Germany in the same year.
Further investigations carried out by Dr Jane Thomas at NIAB in Cambridge, UK, found that over 80% of UK wheat varieties tested are susceptible to the UK strain of this pathogen. This indicates that if the strain became established in the UK, a large proportion of UK wheat could be at risk.
The research team warns that UK and European wheat and barley crops could be under threat from a perfect storm of conditions favourable to stem rust resurgence.
Dr Daniel Bebber at Exeter University, UK, showed that changes in climatic conditions over the past 25 years suggest increasingly conducive conditions for fungal pathogen growth and infection.
In addition to the lack of resistance in European wheat varieties, in recent years the alternate host of the pathogen, Barberry (Berberis vulgaris), has also been increasing in popularity. This hedgerow shrub plays a key role in the life cycle of several rust pathogens including wheat stem rust.
The Barberry shrub was largely removed across England up until the early part of the 20th century, as farmers noticed that cereal crops grown adjacent to Barberry bushes were at greater risk of stem rust. However, over the last twenty years or so Barberry shrubs have been planted in efforts to conserve the Barberry Carpet moth, an endangered species. Much of this planting is focussed on the relatively few areas where the moth is found, although other plantings have occurred elsewhere.
The next steps in this process, says Dr Saunders, is a larger study to map and sample Barberry across the UK working alongside conservation groups. "Replanting Barberry in woodlands, gardens and areas away from arable land would ensure we provide vital habitat for the endangered Barberry Carpet moth, whilst limiting its potential impact on enhancing rust pathogen diversity."
The study "Potential for re-emergence of wheat stem rust in the United Kingdom" published today in Communications Biology urges: "the re-initiation of resistance breeding and a review of the mass plantation of common barberry to preclude re-planting near arable land and thereby limit the ability of the pathogen to rapidly overcome any introduced resistance and/or climatic constraints to safeguard European cereals from a large-scale re-emergence of wheat stem rust."
The full report upon publication: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s42003-018-0013-y
Further information and comments:
Paul Fenwick, cereal pathologist at Limagrain UK Ltd and co-author of the study, said: "The discovery of stem rust in Suffolk has so far been an isolated one-off occurrence in 2013; however, with global temperatures set to rise by another 1 or 2 degrees over the next century, stem rust could extend its geographic range. Therefore, there is the potential for stem rust to become an ever-increasing threat across Europe and so research, such as this, will help to underpin breeding for resistance in the future."
In the current study, the authors identified cereal rust on Barberry in the UK for the first time in decades. Dr Diane Saunders said: "This highlights the critical need for close management of Barberry planting." Worryingly in the same year Sweden also witnessed the first report in Europe for decades of a highly diverse wheat stem rust epidemic that originated from Barberry. Dr Saunders said positive work was already taking place between her group at the John Innes Centre and conservation groups working to enhance habitats for the Barberry Carpet Moth.
Mark Parsons of Butterfly Conservation said "We are very concerned about the potential risk from the possible re-establishment of stem rust in this country and the impact it could have on agriculture and the environment. The Barberry Carpet moth is an endangered species restricted to just a handful of sites in this country, it being reliant on Common Barberry for survival. We are, therefore, pleased to be working closely with the John Innes Centre both to minimize the potential risk from cereal rust, but also to enhance the populations of the Barberry Carpet, and therefore increase its chances of survival in this country."
The role of Barberry in the life cycle of stem rust: Cereal rusts have very complicated life cycles, involving five different types of spore and two hosts that they live on in different stages of their life cycle. On cereal crops, stem rust undergoes asexual reproduction, using the plant's own resources to produce millions of genetically identical spores. The type of spores it generates on cereals can travel on the wind thousands of kilometres. However, when Barberry is next to a cereal field the pathogen uses it as an alternate host to complete its sexual cycle, potentially leading to a swath of new genetic strains. Fortunately, the spores that form on Barberry only travel short distances, likely up to 10-20 meters, so for a Barberry bush to spread rust to a cereal field, they must be in close proximity.
Funding
This project was funded by an Industrial Partnership Award (BB/M025519/1) from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), a European Research Council Starting Grant awarded to Dr Diane Saunders (no. 715638), an institute development grant from the Earlham Institute (http://www.earlham.ac.uk), H2020 project EMPHASIS (no. 634179) awarded to NIAB, by the BBSRC Institute Strategic Programmes BB/J004553/1 and BB/P012574/1, the John Innes Foundation, and an African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) fellowship.
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About the John Innes Centre
The John Innes Centre is an independent, international centre of excellence in plant science and microbiology. Our mission is to generate knowledge of plants and microbes through innovative research, to train scientists for the future, to apply our knowledge of nature's diversity to benefit agriculture, the environment, human health, and wellbeing, and engage with policy makers and the public. To achieve these goals we establish pioneering long-term research objectives in plant and microbial science, with a focus on genetics. These objectives include promoting the translation of research through partnerships to develop improved crops and to make new products from microbes and plants for human health and other applications. We also create new approaches, technologies and resources that enable research advances and help industry to make new products. The knowledge, resources and trained researchers we generate help global societies address important challenges including providing sufficient and affordable food, making new products for human health and industrial applications, and developing sustainable bio-based manufacturing. This provides a fertile environment for training the next generation of plant and microbial scientists, many of whom go on to careers in industry and academia, around the world.
The John Innes Centre is strategically funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). In 2015-2016 the John Innes Centre received a total of £30.1 million from the BBSRC.
The John Innes Centre is also supported by the John Innes Foundation through provision of research accommodation and long-term support of the Rotation PhD programme.
The John Innes Centre is the winner of the BBSRC's 2013 - 2016 Excellence with Impact award.
For more information about the John Innes Centre visit our website http://www.jic.ac.uk
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The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) invests in world-class bioscience research and training on behalf of the UK public. Our aim is to further scientific knowledge, to promote economic growth, wealth and job creation and to improve quality of life in the UK and beyond. Funded by Government, BBSRC invested over £473M in world-class bioscience in 2015-16. We support research and training in universities and strategically funded institutes. BBSRC research and the people we fund are helping society to meet major challenges, including food security, green energy and healthier, longer lives. Our investments underpin important UK economic sectors, such as farming, food, industrial biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. For more information about BBSRC, our science and our impact see: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk For more information about BBSRC strategically funded institutes see: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/institutes
Journal
Communications Biology