A primary biosecurity threat to the Australian wheat industry.

Zymoseptoria tritici is a fungal pathogen that causes the septoria tritici blotch (STB) disease on wheat. STB is the primary pathogen of wheat in Europe and is responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in losses each year. STB is also a primary biosecurity threat to the Australian wheat industry. Research is currently underway to understand how the pathogen interacts with wheat and causes disease at the molecular level. Projects available include (skills involved in the project are shown in brackets);

1. Genome sequencing and comparative genomics of Australian Z. tritici isolates (DNA isolation, genome sequencing, bioinformatics).
2. Isolating pathogen proteins responsible for disease (protein expression, protein purification, molecular biology)
3. Determining the proteome/metabolome of the pathogen during infection (proteomics, metabolomics)

Opportunities exist for students at all levels to become involved in this project.