Mutant fungus threatens global wheat supply: scientists

[ensho]

http://www.physorg.com/news194098643.html


Four new mutations of Ug99, a strain of a deadly wheat pathogen known as stem rust, have overcome existing sources of genetic resistance developed to safeguard the world’s wheat crop. Leading wheat experts from Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, who are in St. Petersburg, Russia for a global wheat event organized by the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative, said the evolving pathogen may pose an even greater threat to global wheat production than the original Ug99. Credit: Photo courtesy of Petr Kosina, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)

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"With the new mutations we are seeing, countries cannot afford to wait until rust 'bites' them," said Dr. Ravi Singh, distinguished senior scientist in plant genetics and pathology with the Mexico-based International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). "The variant of Ug99 identified in Kenya, for example, went from first detection in trace amounts in one year to epidemic proportions the next year."

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"We do not have as much information as we would like on the aggressiveness of the pathogen," said David Hodson, Head of the GIS Unit at FAO. "The original race, Ug99, does not seem to have increased as much as originally feared, given its highly virulent nature. But the new variants pose a grave challenge that we are addressing in collaborations around the world."

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"We are ready," said Dr. Mahmoud Solh, Director General of the Syria-based International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). "Wheat rust researchers around the world have united in an unprecedented collaboration to monitor the spread of wheat rust, find new sources of rust resistance from wild relatives of wheat, and deploy varieties with durable resistance."

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Iran is the furthest along in producing seed, and Egypt in introducing it, but most of the countries considered at risk "will be producing at least 5 percent quality seed of their national potential seed market for wheat in the crop cycle 2010-11," according to CIMMYT scientist Arun Kumar Joshi, who presented his findings on the outcomes of first efforts to introduce new varieties throughout North Africa, the Middle East and Afghanistan. The objective is to have sufficient seed of resistant lines to plant at least 5 percent of the entire wheat area by 2012.

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note the good work Iran is doing

[no_hypocrisy]

1. You know this will only encourage Monsanto to come up with GMO seed for wheat.

Goodbye to the joys of a sandwich . . .

[TheMadMonk]

2. I think they may have tried and got told to shove it. nt

[Liberal_in_LA]

3. What's the US doing about this?