Pyrenophora tritici-repentis Race 4 Isolates Cause Disease on Tetraploid Wheat

Abstract

The ascomycete fungus Pyrenophora tritici-repentis is the causal agent of tan spot of wheat. The disease can occur on both common wheat (Triticum aestivum) and durum wheat (T. turgidum ssp. durum) and has potential to cause significant yield and quality losses. The fungal pathogen is known to produce necrotrophic effectors (NEs) that act as important virulence factors. Based on the NE production and virulence on a set of four differentials, P. tritici-repentis isolates have been classified into eight races. Race 4 produces no known NEs and is avirulent on the differentials. From a fungal collection in North Dakota, we identified several isolates that were classified as race 4. These isolates caused no or little disease on all common wheat lines including the differentials; however, they were virulent on some durum cultivars and tetraploid wheat accessions. Using two segregating tetraploid wheat populations and quantitative trait locus mapping, we identified several genomic regions significantly associated with disease caused by two of these isolates, some of which have not been previously reported. This is the first report that race 4 is virulent on tetraploid wheat, likely utilizing unidentified NEs. Our findings further highlight the insufficiency of the current race classification system for P. tritici-repentis.