SAES-422 Multistate Research Activity Accomplishments Report

Sections

Status: Approved

Basic Information

Participants

Coleman, Jeff (jjcoleman@auburn.edu) – Auburn University; Richards, Jon (JRichards@agcenter.lsu.edu) – Louisiana State University – AgCenter; Akinlabi, Israel (israel.akinlabi@sdstate.edu) – South Dakota State University; Caplan, Jeff (jcaplan@udel.edu) – University of Delaware; Chaya, Tim (tchaya@udel.edu) – University of Delaware; Forster, Heather (hdforester@ksu.edu) – Kansas State University; Hamilton, Christina (chamilton@wisc.edu) Harris, Steve (stevenh1@iastate.edu) – Iowa State University; Jung-Youn Lee (jylee@udel.edu) – University of Delaware; Liu, Zhaohui (zhu.liu@ndsu.edu ) – North Dakota State University; Rollins, Jeff (rollinsj@ufl.edu) - University of Florida; Sharma, Sachin (Sachin.sharma@sdstate.edu) – South Dakota State University; Slot, Jason (slot.1@osu.edu) – The Ohio State University Solanki, Shyam (shyam.solanki@sdstate.edu) – South Dakota State University; Todd, Richard (rbtodd@ksu.edu) - Kansas State University; Vaillancourt, Lisa (vaillan@uky.edu) – University of Kentucky; Wilson, Richard (rwilson10@unl.edu) – University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Womack, Erika (ewomack@mscl.mssstate.edu) – Mississippi State University

NCCC-307 Meeting Minutes – October 10, 2025

2:00-2:20 pm Opening remarks from Christina Hamilton

Research Scientist Presentation (20 minutes and 5 minutes for questions)

2:20-2:45 pm   Tim Chaya, Caplan Lab, University of Delaware  “Identification of proteins associated with extracellular vesicles involved in plant-fungal interactions”

Graduate Student Research Presentations (10 minutes and 5 minutes for questions)

2:45-3:00 pm   Israel Akinlabi, Solanki Lab, South Dakota State University  “Tracing the ancestral function of integrated kinase domain in barley NLR Rpg5”

3:00-3:15 pm   Sachin Sharma, Solanki Lab, South Dakota State University  “Genome analysis of the soybean pathogen Fusarium luffae to identify unique virulence effectors”

3:15-3:25 pm   Follow up questions and discussion

3:25-3:55 pm   Business Meeting

  • Comments from Steve Harris, renewal in September 2027
  • Annual Report details
    • Impacts
    • Workforce development
  • 2026 annual meeting

            For the next meeting, it was agreed upon to hold the next meeting when the Fungal Genetics Conference takes place at the Asilomar Conference Grounds (Pacific Grove, CA) in the spring of 2026, when many members of the NCCC 307 are in attendance.  

Accomplishments

NCCC307 committee members collectively increased our understanding of biochemistry and genetics of plant-fungal interactions this past year by: 1) increasing our understanding of the fungal effectors and modulation of host plant immune response, 2) better understanding the function of  fungal secondary metabolites and their regulation, 3) understanding of sporulation and other fungal biology aspects of  fungal pathogens in agriculturally important crops, and 4) increased understanding of plant resistance against fungal pathogens.  These efforts have produced more than 15 peer-reviewed journal publications from May 2024 through the October 2025 reporting period.

Collaborations:

There have been multiple collaborations developed between members of this NCCC 307 multistate project. There is an ongoing collaboration between the Vaillancourt (University of Kentucky) and the Caplan (University of Delaware) laboratories to explore the relative contributions of classical secretion and extracellular vesicle (EV)-mediated secretion for delivery of Colletotrichum pathogenicity factors at the plant–pathogen interface. During the reporting period, genetic constructs and WT fungal strains were exchanged. This collaboration takes advantage of the expertise in EV purification and analysis of the Caplan research group with the strengths in Colletotrichum cytology and molecular biology of the Vaillancourt group.

Another collaboration involving members of the NCCC 307 concerns investigating the interactions between fungal pathogens in the Pyrenophora genus and their cereal hosts. This collaboration between the Friesen (USDA-ARS, Fargo, ND), Liu (North Dakota State University) and Richards (LSU, AgCenter) laboratories has identified virulence factors that confer the ability of these fungi to overcome the plant resistance mechanisms in wheat and barley.

Impacts

  1. The publications by NCCC307 members describing their research findings have increased understanding of how plant-fungi interactions impact economically important diseases of crops and food production and threats to humans and animals through the consumption of mycotoxin contaminated foods. The exchange of ideas and biochemical and genetic data among members has contributed to these publications and fostered new ideas and research directions. NCCC307 members have coauthored four papers together since the last report (see Publications section).
  2. Several ongoing collaborations between members of this multistate project have advanced the understanding of the interactions between phytopathogenic fungi and their host plants (see ‘Collaborations’ section in Accomplishments).
  3. Members of the NCCC307 have contributed to work force development where at least 7 undergraduate students, 13 graduate students, and one postdoctoral scientist have been trained during this reporting period. Many of the graduate students that completed their degrees during this reporting period were employed in their trained expertise.
  4. The research generated from members of this NCCC307 multistate project is of use to plant pathologists, plant breeders, and other scientists involved in the development of control strategies aimed at reducing crop diseases and mycotoxin contamination problems caused by fungi. The research will also benefit academic, government, and private-sector organizations that assess the risks that fungi pose to human and animal health.

Publications

  1. Eagan JE, Digman ER, den Boon M, Regalado R, Rawa MSA, Hull CM, Keller NP. (2025) Patulin inhibition of specific apple microbiome members uncovers Hanseniasporauvarum as a potential biocontrol agent. Phytopathology  115: 117-127.  doi: 10.1094/PHYTO-06-24-0189-R
  2. Guo J, Shi G, Islam MM, Kariyawasam G, Moolhuijzen P, See P-T, Zhong S, Aboukhaddour R, Faris JD, Friesen T, Liu Z. (2025) Identification of a novel genetic locus conferring virulence in the wheat tan spot pathogen Pyrenophora tritici-repentis. Fungal Genetics and Biology  179: 104002.  doi.org/10.1016/j.fgb.2025.104002
  3. Hatmaker EA, Barber AE, Drott MT,Sauters TJC, Gumilang A, Alastruey-Izquierdo A, Garcia-Hermoso D, Eagan JL, Keller NP, Kontoyiannis DP, Kurzai O, Rokas A. (2025) Population structure in a fungal human pathogen is potentially linked to pathogenicity. Nature Communications  16: 7594.  doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-62777-9
  4. Klindworth DL, Fiedler JD, Jin Y, Friesen TL, Anderson KM, Lhamo D, Xu SS, Peters Haugrud AR. (2025) Genetic characterization and confirmation of stem rust resistance (Sr) genes in Rusty-derived durum monogenic lines. Crop Science 65:e70134.
  5. Klindworth DL, Sharma JS, Faris JD, Friesen TL, Peters Haugrud AR, Xu SS. (2025) Identification of stem rust resistance genes in monogenic lines derived from wheat cultivar Waldron. Crop Science 65:e70010.
  6. Li J, Wyatt NA, Skiba RM, Kariyawasam GK, Richards JK, Effertz K, Rehman S, Liu Z, Brueggeman RS, Friesen TL. (2024) Variability in chromosome 1 of select Moroccan Pyrenophora teres teres isolates overcomes a highly effective barley chromosome 6H source of resistance. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions   37:676-687.
  7. Lhamo D, Sun Q, Friesen TL, Li X, Fiedler JD, Faris JD, Xia G, Gu Y-Q, Liu Z, Xu SS. (2024) Association mapping of tan spot and septoria nodorum blotch resistance in cultivated emmer wheat. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 137:193.
  8. Nelson AC, Kariyawasam G, Wyatt NA, Li J, Haueisen J, Stukenbrock EH, Borowicz P, Liu Z, Friesen TL. (2024) Assembly and evaluation of a confocal microscopy image analysis pipeline useful in revealing the secrets of plant-fungal interactions. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions  37:804-813.
  9. Otoo B, Calise DG, Park SC, Bok JW, Keller NP, Rawa MSA. (2025) ZfpA-dependent quorum sensing shifts in morphology and secondary metabolism in Aspergillus flavus. Environmental Microbiology 27: e70100.  doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.70100
  10. Pokhrel A, Coleman JJ (2024) Transcriptional enhancement of pathogenicity genes in the PEP cluster of Fusarium vanettenii is influenced by a pisatin-responsive gene (PRG1) and contributes to virulence on garden pea. Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology  134: 102411.  org/10.1016/j.pmpp.2024.102411
  11. Pruthi R, Chaudhary C, Sharma J, Rana P, Kondi RKR, Richards JK, Nguyen HT, Subudhi PK. (2025) A comparative transcriptomic analysis provides insights into molecular mechanisms driving salt tolerance in soybean. Scientific Reports 15: 31869. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-17329-y
  12. Rabot C, Grau MF, Entwistle R, Chiang Y-M, Zamora de Roberts Y, Ahuja M, Oakley CE, Wang CCC, Todd RB,Oakley BR. (2024) Transcription factor engineering in Aspergillus nidulans leads to the discovery of an orsellinaldehyde derivative produced via an unlinked polyketide synthase gene. Journal of Natural Products  87: 2384-2392.  https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jnatprod.4c00483
  13. Rodriguez-Herrera KD, Vargas A, Amie J, Price PP, Salgado LD, Doyle VP, Richards JK, Moseley D, Rojas A, Thomas-Sharma S. 2024. Development of a greenhouse assay to screen soybean varieties for resistance to aerial blight caused by Rhizoctonia solani anastomosis group 1-IA. Phytopathology 114: 1039-1049. DOI: 10.1094/PHYTO-10-23-0390-KC
  14. Running KLD, Acharya K, Roth TM, Singh G, Szabo-Hever A, Peters Haugrud AR, Fiedler JD, Friesen TL, Faris JD. (2025) Development of diagnostic markers for the disease susceptibility gene Tsn1 in wheat reveals novel resistance alleles and a new locus required for ToxA sensitivity. Theoretical and Applied Genetics  138:164.
  15. Searight J, Doyle VP, Famoso AN, Zhou X, Richards JK. (2025) A population genomics approach to understand the diversity, migration, and reproduction of the rice pathogen Cercospora janseana. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions In press. DOI: 10.1094/MPMI-03-25-0031-R
  16. Seneviratne S, Shi G, Szabo-Hever A, Zhang Z, Peters Haugrud AR, Running KLD, Singh G, Nandety RS, Fiedler J, McClean PE, Xu SS, Friesen TL, Faris JD. 2024 Evolution, diversity, function, and marker-assisted elimination of the disease susceptibility gene Snn1 in wheat. Plant Journal  119:1720-1736.
  17. Szabo-Hever A, Running KLD, Seneviratne S, Singh G, Zhang Z, Peters Haugrud AR, Bassi FM, Maccaferri M, Cattivelli L, Tuberosa R, Friesen TL, Xu SS, Faris JD. (2025) Evaluation of durum and hard red spring wheat panels for sensitivity to necrotrophic effectors produced by Parastagonospora nodorum. Plant Disease 109:851-861.
  18. Szabo-Hever A, Sharma JS, Faris JD, Zhong S, Friesen TL, Green AJ, Bai G, Xu SS. (2025) Identification and mapping of quantitative trait loci for Fusarium head blight resistance in a synthetic hexaploid × hard red spring wheat population. The Plant Genome 18:e70073. https://doi.org/10.1002/tpg2.70073
  19. Wang G, Wu W, Keller NP, Guo X, Li E, Ma J, Xing F (2024) Metarhizium encode an ochratoxin cluster and a high efficiency ochratoxin-degrading amidohydrolase revealed by genomic analysis. Journal of Advanced Research 72: 85-95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jare.2024.07.023
  20. Wyatt NA, Skiba RM, Peters Haugrud AR, Zhang Q, Szabo-Hever A, Xu SS, Faris JD, Friesen TL. (2025) Pyrenophora teres maculata, causal agent of spot form net blotch of barley, is an emerging pathogen of durum wheat. Phytopathology 115: 850-858.   https://doi.org/10.1094/PHYTO-01-25-0002-R
  21. Zhang C, Xu Y, Li L, Wu M, Fang Z, Tan J, Rollins JA, Lin H, Huang X, Mansfield SD, Li X, Zhang Y. (2025) A GDP-mannose-1-phosphate guanylyltransferase as a potential HIGS target against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. PLoS Pathogens 21: e1013129. 10.1371/journal.ppat.1013129
  22. Zhang Z, Running KLD, Seneviratne S, Peters Haugrud AR, Szabo-Hever A, Singh G, Holušová K, Molnár I, Doležel J, Friesen TL, Faris JD (2025)  Protein kinase-major sperm protein (PK-MSP) genes mediate recognition of the fungal necrotrophic effector SnTox3 to cause septoria nodorum blotch in wheat. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions  38:315-327.
  23. Zhu G, Zuo Q, Liu S, Zheng P, Zhang Y, Zhang X, Rollins JA, Liu J, Pan H. (2025) A FOX transcription factor phosphorylated for regulation of autophagy facilitates fruiting body development in Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. New Phytologist 246: 2683–2701. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.70151
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