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Towards a more reasoned assessment of the threat to wheat crops from Tilletia indica, the cause of Karnal bunt disease

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Abstract

The interpretation of information used to defend an assessment that T. indica, the cause of Karnal bunt of wheat, has a high risk of establishing in Europe and of causing significant yield/quality losses is questioned. Karnal bunt has only established in locations that are arid or semi-arid with hot summers and cool/mild winters. There is very strong circumstantial evidence that substantial amounts of seed contaminated with teliospores of T. indica were sown in Europe in the past without the appearance of Karnal bunt. It is unlikely that sufficient numbers of teliospores would survive long enough on the soil surface under European conditions and then synchronise germination during the period at heading when wheat is vulnerable to infection to guarantee disease expression. Karnal bunt is regarded as a minor disease everywhere it occurs. Almost two thirds of European wheat cultivars inoculated by a severe boot injection method have been categorised as either resistant or highly resistant to T. indica. Yield/quality losses would be expected to be low even if the pathogen were capable of establishing in Europe. The status of T. indica as an important quarantine pest is based on the indirect economic consequences of the appearance of the pathogen and not on the direct damage it causes to wheat crops. Arguments in this and previous reviews advocating a more reasoned and comprehensive assessment of the threat to Europe, North America and other locations from T. indica need to be taken into consideration in any new pest risk analyses.

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Acknowledgements

Blair Goates, Plant Pathologist, ARS-USDA, Aberdeen, Idaho is thanked for providing information on the current Karnal bunt situation in the USA, and for discussions relating to the physiology/epidemiology of T. indica. The advice of Gary Petersen, ARS-USDA, Ft. Detrick, Maryland, Fekede Workneh, Texas Agricultural Experimental Station, Bushland, Texas and Tom Allen, Delta Research and Extension Center, Stoneville, Mississippi is also gratefully acknowledged.

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  1. Consultant in Plant Pathology and Pest Risk Analysis, 12 Charlotte Brontë Drive, Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire, WR9 7HU, UK

    David R. Jones

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Correspondence to David R. Jones.

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David Jones is a retired employee of the Central Science Laboratory (CSL). Statements and opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author and are not the views of CSL.

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Jones, D.R. Towards a more reasoned assessment of the threat to wheat crops from Tilletia indica, the cause of Karnal bunt disease. Eur J Plant Pathol 123, 247–259 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-008-9364-4

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