Endophytic entomopathogenic fungi for control of wheat stem sawfly and Fusarium head blight

In this proposal we will take an interdisciplinary approach combining expertise in wheat geneticsand genomics with expertise in fungal insect pathogens to demonstrate feasibility of selectingendophytic entomopathogenic fungal strains effective for controlling both wheat stem sawfly andFusarium head blight. The project builds on previous research isolating endophytic fungalpathogens from infected sawfly larvae in wheat stems.The same species of the fungal wheat stemsawfly pathogens have been shown to control fungal diseases in crops including Fusarium headblight in wheat.Our objective is to demonstrate that regulation of Fusarium resistance genes in wheat by endophyticfungal pathogens of wheat stem sawfly provides basis for selecting fungal strains effective forcontrolling both WSS and Fusarium. We will use dual transcriptome analysis to determine thegenetic and genomic response of Fusarium challenged wheat to endophytic colonization by a fungalWSS pathogens to select fungal WSS pathogen strains effective in limiting Fusarium infection.This project will also increase understanding of the genetics of Fusarium resistance in wheatenabling targeted gene editing for developing new wheat varieties with increased resistance toFusarium infection.Montana BioAgriculture Inc. will develop a fungal strain selected in phase 1 as a microbialpesticide for both WSS and Fusarium head blight. This will provide wheat growers with a newmeans for reducing yield losses due to the two most damaging pests of wheat in North American.Reducing yield losses from these pests will contribute to US and global food security