Comparative genomics reveals low levels of inter- and intraspecies diversity in the causal agents of dwarf and common bunt of wheat and hint at conspecificity of Tilletia caries and T. laevis.

Tilletia caries and T. laevis, which are the causal agents of common bunt, as well as T. controversa, which causes dwarf bunt of wheat, threaten especially organic wheat farming.

Discrimination of Tilletia controversa from the T. caries/T. laevis complex by MALDI-TOF MS analysis of teliospores.

The fungal genus Tilletia includes a large number of plant pathogens of Poaceae. Only a few of those cause bunt of wheat, but these species can lead to significant yield losses in crop production worldwide. Due to quarantine regulations and specific disease control using appropriate seed treatments for the different disease agents, it is of high importance to distinguish Tilletia caries and Tilletia laevis as causal agents of common bunt accurately from Tilletia controversa, the causal agent of the dwarf bunt.

Development of a loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay for the detection of Tilletia controversa based on genome comparison.

Tilletia controversa causing dwarf bunt of wheat is a quarantine pathogen in several countries. Therefore, its specific detection is of great phytosanitary importance. Genomic regions routinely used for phylogenetic inferences lack suitable polymorphisms for the development of species-specific markers.