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I was very fortunate to be supported by BSPP to attend the recent International Symposium on Cereal Leaf Blights (ISCLB) in Zurich, Switzerland from 5-9 June 2024. This conference brings together researchers from around the world who work on Septoria diseases and their causative pathogens, such as Zymoseptoria tritici, Parastagonospora nodorum and Pyrenophora spp. In the past I’ve attended conferences with a broader focus on plant pathology or molecular plant-microbe interactions. ISCLB2024, in contrast, was a deep dive into the biology of (mostly) Z. tritici, with talks ranging from the genomics of global Z. tritici populations to the molecular and structural characterisation of individual effectors and avirulence proteins. As a Zymoseptoria researcher, I benefited greatly from the Zymo focus; I only hope attendees working on the other cereal blights didn’t feel too neglected!
Talks I found particularly interesting included that of Tobias Baril from the University of Neuchâtel, who discussed the classification of the transposable element (TE) landscape in Z. tritici and provided evidence that many TEs are still active within Z. tritici populations. Tobias’ work questioned how frequently the movement/persistence of TEs confers an adaptive advantage for the pathogen. This segued nicely to Ulysse Guilloteau’s presentation (INRAE) which described the identification of another Z. tritici Avr gene, AvrStb16q, encoding a small, secreted, cysteine-rich protein. Notably, AvrStb16q has been disrupted by TEs in two Z. tritici isolates that are virulent on wheat cultivars with the resistance gene Stb16q. Similarly, Cyrille Saintenac (INRAE) revealed an LRR-RLK-encoding gene was the likely candidate for the wheat resistance gene Stb9, which recognises the previously cloned AvrStb9. Cyrille provided further evidence that stomatal closure and the prevention of Z. tritici penetration in the early stages of infection plays a significant role in resistance to the pathogen.
The three days of talks at ISCLB emphasised two general points: first, how Z. tritici adapts and evolves. This was evident in genome- to field-level talks, for example, how much the TE landscape of Z. tritici isolates has changed over the last 25 years, or how pathogen populations have broken down Stb16q-resistance over just a few seasons in the field. Given this, it’s no surprise that this pathogen continues to challenge wheat growers and researchers around the world! Second, the talks emphasised the great rate at which Avrs and R genes are being discovered. With more Avr-R pairs having been now cloned, it will be exciting to see what the community can learn about the virulence functions and resistance mechanisms of these genes.
Thank you to the conference organisers Daniel Croll, Bruce McDonald and others for putting together an excellent conference. It was not only a great opportunity to hear the latest research in the cereal leaf blight field, but also provided an invaluable opportunity to connect with the rest of the Z. tritici community and meet with international friends and collaborators. I sincerely thank BSPP for supporting my travel to Zurich – it’s a long way from Australia, and the Society’s support makes attending conferences in Europe possible as an early career researcher!
Erin Hill
The Australian National University
TOP IMAGE CREDIT: ISCLB 2024
