Research themes

A key research focus of the Centre for Crop Health is management of soil-borne and foliar diseases of crops using genetic, genomic, phenotypic and pre-breeding approaches. The aim of our projects in this area is to reduce the economic impact that these diseases have in Australian farming systems and to broaden the scientific knowledge of these diseases world-wide. In Australia, soil-borne diseases such as root-lesion nemtodes and crown rot alone can cause up to $200M in crop damage each year. Both winter (breadwheat, durum, barley, chickpea) and summer (fieldpea, mungbean, peanut) crops are investigated. Strategic research focus areas include: 

• the characterisation of the response of genotypes to soil-borne and foliar diseases in glasshouse and field trials
• phenotyping of diverse germplasm collections, breeding lines and cultivars to identify new sources of resistance and tolerance to diseases caused by fungi, nematodes and bacteria 
• understanding the genetic basis and mechanisms of resistance and tolerance
• pre-breeding to introgress sources of resistance and tolerance into adapted germplasm
• development of rapid reliable and efficient phenotyping methodologies for soilborne diseases, including remote sensing technologies
• soilborne disease interactions in Australian farming systems

Projects

• Assessing collections of wild chickpea relatives for resistance to root-lesion nematodes
• Genetic control of nematode species affecting major crops - Germplasm enhancement for nematode control in cereals & pulses 
• Development of tools to accelerate nematode resistance gene deployment
• Integrated Genetic Solutions to crown rot in wheat 
• Durum crown rot benchmarking for improved grower access to durum varieties with greater crown rot resistance
• Improved genetic solutions for management of yellow spot in wheat
• NVT Pathology Services for generation of cultivar disease resistance ratings 2019-2023
• Development of rapid phenotyping and genotyping tools for selection of key agronomic and quality traits in the Australian peanut breeding program
• Soilborne disease interactions in Australian farming systems
• Genome-wide association mapping studies to support mungbean breeding for resistance to tan spot and powdery mildew
• Genetics of root-lesion nematode Pratylenchus thornei resistance in mungbean (Vigna radiata)

An integral part of our research at USQ Centre for Crop Health is improving crop disease management through better understanding the biology and life cycle of crop pathogens. At CCH, we use a range of traditional plant pathology techniques and state-of-the-art genomic tools to enhance knowledge of the biology of crop pathogens, which can be directly translated into reliable and durable disease management recommendations at a paddock level. Our current research is focused on pathogens of both winter (barley, chickpea) and summer (sorghum, mungbean, soybean) crops, and centres on a diversity of inter-related topics, including:

• Pathogen population diversity: We characterize genetic and pathogenic variability of fungal and bacterial pathogen populations and monitor changes in their genotypic composition and virulence patterns with the aim of informing crop phenotyping efforts and breeding for durable resistance.
• Characterization of ecologically important loci: We use comparative genomics, biparental and genome-wide association mapping to discover genetic determinants of virulence and fungicide resistance in crop pathogens with the aim of promoting novel crop protection strategies targeting the mechanisms of pathogenicity and fungicide resistance.
• Biological interactions: We investigate the interaction between crop pathogens and beneficial microbial communities to unravel impacts of pathogen biology and implications for crop disease development and management.  

Projects

• An integrative approach towards sustainable management of sorghum stalk rot in the GRDC northern region
• Fungicide resistance detection and underlying mechanisms 
• New insights into genome evolution of an important group of crop pathogens (Australia-Germany Joint Research Co-operation Scheme)
• Understanding the epidemiology and host association of charcoal rot pathogen on broadacre crops
• Genomics empowered research to support mungbean breeding for tan spot resistance
• Fungicide resistance detection and monitoring in major broad-acre crop pathogens in Qld using DNA markers and fungicide resistance biotests

We study pathogen lifecycles, how they spread, and gather data on farming practices and systems in subtropical and tropical broadacre crops. These data are used to develop crop disease management recommendations with statistical tools that we develop to model diseases. We use some of these models in describing how far infective spores can travel and cause disease, which are used in decision support systems by growers and agronomists. Other models are used to describe relationships between farming practices and the diseases that occur in the paddock to help develop disease management recommendations. Still others may be useful in mapping potential disease threats based on weather or climate inputs to assist decision makers (e.g. government officials) with planning future investments.

Projects

• Disease epidemiology and management tools for Australian grain growers
• Post-doctoral Fellowship: A model for Predicting Chickpea Ascochyta Blight risk

Biological control methods as well as studies on integrated pest management practices are integral part of our research portfolio. Our current biological control projects are focused on suppressing crop pathogens with mycoparasites, insect pests with entomopathogenic fungi, and invasive weeds with specialised fungal plant pathogens. Integrated disease management practices are mainly studied in Australian summer crops.

Projects

• Integrated disease management tools to manage summer crop diseases in the northern region
• Australian Fungicide Resistance Extension Network (AFREN): fungicide resistance management targeted at regional level
• Developing improved crop protection options in support of intensification of sweet potato production in Papua New Guinea
• Weed biological control – Navua sedge

Most of our projects focusing on crop diseases have supported plant biosecurity, especially through the precise identification of fungal and bacterial pathogens using classic and state-of-the-art molecular diagnostic methods. Many new and emerging plant pathogens have been identified, and sometimes formally described by our research staff and HDR students. Our Centre has also been active in organising training workshops for plant biosecurity diagnosticians, to improve their identification skills. Our most recent research and training projects focused on downy mildews, powdery mildews, and the Botryosphaeriaceae.