Publications by authors named "S Gurr"

Article Synopsis
  • The fungal pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici causes significant damage to wheat crops through a disease called Septoria tritici blotch; it has a unique germination process that occurs slowly and randomly after landing on leaves.
  • Research indicates that some Z. tritici spores can survive for at least 7 weeks in water, remaining virulent while adapting to low-nutrient conditions by using stored lipids and altering gene expression.
  • The spores can survive even longer in soil and can be transmitted to wheat seedlings via rain-splash, highlighting the importance of understanding Z. tritici's survival mechanisms for effective disease management strategies.
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The emergence of fungal antimicrobial resistance-fAMR-is having a growing impact on human and animal health, and food security. This roadmap charts inter-related actions that will enhance our ability to mitigate the risk of fAMR. As humanity's reliance on antifungal chemicals escalates, our understanding of their one-health consequences needs to scale accordingly if we are to protect our ability to manage the global spectrum of fungal disease sustainably.

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The wheat pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici is capable of a long period of pre-invasive epiphytic growth. Studies have shown that virulent isolates vary in the extent, duration and growth form of this epiphytic growth, and the fungus has been observed to undergo behaviours such as asexual reproduction by budding and vegetative fusion of hyphae on the leaf surface. This epiphytic colonisation has been investigated very little during interactions in which an isolate of Z.

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Mycotoxins harm human and livestock health, while damaging economies. Here we reveal the changing threat of Fusarium head blight (FHB) mycotoxins in European wheat, using data from the European Food Safety Agency and agribusiness (BIOMIN, World Mycotoxin Survey) for ten years (2010-2019). We show persistent, high, single- and multi-mycotoxin contamination alongside changing temporal-geographical distributions, indicative of altering FHB disease pressure and pathogen populations, highlighting the potential synergistic negative health consequences and economic cost.

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