Deciphering pathological and population dynamics in Tilletia indica of Karnal bunt of wheat
摘要
Karnal bunt of wheat, caused by the fungal pathogen Tilletia indica Mitra, is a significant quarantine disease that limits both grain quality and international trade. In order to evaluate genetic variability, 22 isolates of T. indica were collected from North Western Plain Zone (NWPZ) of India and examined by utilizing 15 genome-based trinucleotide simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Between 2 and 6 alleles per locus, a total of 41 alleles were amplified. While polymorphism information content (PIC) values varied from 0.05 to 0.60, with TiSSR11 being the most informative marker, TiSSR12 displayed the largest allele number (6). Seven SSR markers were moderately informative, seven were less informative, and one was very informative based on the PIC values. The cluster analysis divided the isolates into two main clusters, with the majority of the isolates in the first cluster and isolates from Panipat and Haryana forming a separate second cluster. Three sub-populations indicating genetic mixing among Ti isolates were identified suggesting significant variation. The most aggressive isolates (Ti12 and Ti18) were from Rajasthan and pathogenicity tests revealed variation in virulence, with the coefficient of infection ranging from 3.7% to 46.9%. Notably, Rajasthan Ti isolates were highly pathogenic. These results provide important information for the creation of focused control plans for Karnal bunt by highlighting the notable genetic and pathogenic variation among T. indica isolates.