Diseases like fusarium head blight (FHB) cause major crop losses in cereal crops like wheat and barley, impacting farmers and food production

The Regents of University of Minnesota received a $225,000 Project Grant from the Institute of Food Production and Sustainability under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI, CFDA 10.310) awarded on September 15, 2025, with completion scheduled for September 14, 2027. The research project examines the distribution and prevalence of Starship transposable elements—recently identified DNA transfer mechanisms—within Fusarium fungi species that cause Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) in wheat and barley crops. Using whole-genome sequencing combined with data analysis and statistical methods, the research will determine which Fusarium species are most closely related, identify whether pathogenic species contain more Starship transposable elements than non-pathogenic species, and analyze genetic differences between fungi from wild grasses versus crop-infecting fungi to assess disease-related genes and infection capabilities.

The project deliverables will inform disease management and prevention strategies by addressing three critical questions: whether wild grasses serve as alternative hosts for crop-infecting fungi, whether different Fusarium species causing FHB require differentiated management approaches, and whether Starship transposable elements facilitate fungal plant infection. This research addresses the significant agricultural and food security challenge posed by FHB, a major cause of crop losses in cereal production that impacts farmers and food supply stability. The work will be performed at the University of Minnesota's Minneapolis campus.

Several species of fungi within the genus fusarium can cause FHB, and we do not yet know whether fungi infecting wild grasses serve as a source of new genetic material for fungi infecting crops or whether different fusarium species infect plants differently.recently, researchers have identified a new mechanism to transfer genes (DNA) between groups of fungi, called starship transposable elements. Starships can carry genes that allow the fungus to better infect plants. This project will allow US to examine the distribution and prevalence of these transposable elements within fusarium fungi causing FHB and infecting wheat and barley. Using whole-genome sequencing of all the DNA in the fungus, combined with data analysis and statistical methods, I will determine which fusarium species are most closely related and if species causing FHB contain more starship transposable elements than non-pathogenic species. I will also examine whether fungi from wild grasses and fungi from crops are genetically different and whether their starships carry different genes related to disease and infection. Finally, I will look at whether starships impact mating between populations of fusarium graminearum, which is the most common species causing FHB.due to the importance of cereal crops like wheat, diseases like FHB can be devastating to farmers, cereal production, and our food supply. This project will inform disease management and prevention strategies. In particular, this project will address whether wild grasses serve as alternative hosts of fungi infecting crops, whether different species of fusarium causing FHB should be managed differently, and whether starship transposable elements help fusarium species infect plants.