Evaluating the potential of Phialophora spp. for the control of take-all disease in wheat

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Take-all disease, caused by the soil-borne ascomycete fungus Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici (Ggt), is the most damaging root disease of wheat in the UK and worldwide. The fungus invades the roots and destroys the vascular tissue, hindering the plants ability to uptake water and nutrients from the soil. Closely related Phialophora fungal species occur naturally in arable and grassland soils and have considerable potential to suppress take-all disease and to help understand the response of wheat to non-pathogenic / endophytic and pathogenic root invading fungi. The main objective of this project is to understand and characterise the Phialophora-wheat interaction. The infection biology and molecular aspects occurring during root colonisation will be explored using in depth bioimaging analyses and comparative transcriptomic experiments while field trials and controlled environment experiments will be developed to characterise the ability of wheat varieties to sustain Phialophora populations.