Quantitative disease resistance and microbial interactions under abiotic stress

The sub-project SP5b will address the underlying mechanisms that determine combined stress tolerance using barley as a model organism. We will build on our expertise with wheat and the Septoria blotch pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici. Here we will however utilize a new pathosystem recently established in the group, Hordeum sp – Zymoseptoria passerinii to unravel genetic and microbial determinants of abiotic and biotic stress acclimation in barley. We have access to a diversity of domesticated and wild barley accessions, and we have a unique culture collection of Z. passerinii with isolates specialized to infect domesticated and wild barley. With these collections of barley and Z. passerinii we will explore variation in quantitative resistance of barley as well as variation in the robustness of resistance during abiotic stress in domesticated and wild barley. Finally, in collaboration with Z2, we will characterize how the barley microbiome is affected by increased temperatures. 
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​Domesticated barley grown under heat stress in four different climates. ​© Anica Schmauch.