CSIRO Post doc: Inundative biocontrol of weedy Sporobolus grasses using endemic fungal pathogens (2019-present)
CSIRO Health and Biosecurity
Biosecurity Queensland
Project Managers: Joe Vitelli, Dr Raghu Sathyamurthy
Research team: Dr David Holdom, Dr Yu Pei Tan, Dr Roger Shivas, Tess James, Dipika Roy and Eloise Martin
Previous Team Members: Ellie Nicholson, Drew Rapley & Nontaporn Kukuntod
Outcomes
Several newly-discovered species described in Persoonia's Fungal Planet, including:
Microdochium ratticaudae (Published 2021)
Stagonospora tauntonensis (Published 2022)
Leptophaerulina queenslandica (Published 2022)
Keissierella sporoboli (Published 2022)
Pestalotiopsis chiaroscuro (Published 2022)
Wongia ficherae (Published 2022)
Literature review on the history of inundative biological control of weedy Sporobolus grasses (Published 2023)
Identification of over 110 fungal pathogens found in symptomatic weedy Sporobolus grasses using multi-locus phylogenetic analysis and morphological analysis (Published 2022)
Development and use of an inoculation protocol targeting several host species simultaneously in a closed, aseptic system. This system was originally designed by Drew Rapley and Nontaporn Kukuntod
Testing and reviewing various methods for inducing sporulation in our prioritised pathogenic fungi for use in biocontrol (RRd4P Report PRJ-012376)
Suggested formulation for a commercial biocontrol product based on the most virulent, host specific fungal pathogens tested
Publications
PW Crous, DA Cowan, G Maggs‐Kölling, N Yilmaz, R Thangavel, MJ Wingfield, et al. (2021) "Fungal Planet description sheets: 1182-1283", Persoonia - Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution of Fungi 46: 1 313-528 DOI: 10.3767/persoonia.2021.46.11
PW Crous, J Boers, DG Holdom, ER Osieck, TV Steinrucken, YP Tan, et al. (2022) "Fungal Planet description sheets: 1383-1435", Persoonia - Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution of Fungi 48:1 261-371 DOI: 10.3767/persoonia.2022.48.08
Steinrucken TV & Vitelli J (under review: submitted August 2022) "Biological control of weedy Sporobolus grasses using fungal pathogens." Biocontrol
Steinrucken TV, Tan YP, Holdom D & Vitelli J (in prep) "Diversity of fungal species associated with “Clade A” Sporobolus species (Poaceae) in Queensland, Australia" Frontiers in Fungal Biology, DOI: 10.3389/ffunb.2022.956837
Vitelli J, Steinrucken TV & Holdom D TBC (in prep) "In vitro sporulation strategies for endophytic pathogens associated with Sporobolus grasses"