Project Number: 3640-22000-023-02
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Sep 27, 2005
End Date: May 31, 2009

Objective:
The overall goal of our project is to understand how Fusarium graminearum populations change over time by examining significant numbers of isolates from epidemic areas in the U.S. in yearly collections. This proposal specifically addresses the spatial and temporal distribution of a newly discovered population of Fusarium graminearum identified based on diversity studies previously funded by USWBSI. The new objective to be added to this cooperative project is to identify DNA markers specific for P. graminis race TTKS (Ug99) for the development of a molecular diagnostic assay.

Approach:
1) Determine the distribution and frequency of the trichothecene profiles in strains of Fusarium graminearum in ND and MN, and also if newly discovered strains of the pathogen have recombined with the pre-existing North American population, 2) Validate the use of PCR based co-dominant markers for population genetic analysis of Fusarium graminearum, and 3) Survey for changes in the overall U.S. Fusarium graminearum population in samples collected during 2001-2004. 4) Develop SNP markers for genetic analysis of P. graminis from genomic sequence data. 5) Analyze isolates of P. graminis from North Africa and compare with select isolates from U.S. and worldwide collections. 6) Mining genomic sequence data will be used to select potential target regions for DNA markers. Candidate target regions will be analyzed for DNA sequence variation and compared across selected isolates of P. graminis.