Address the growing urgency of fungal disease in crops

Stukenbrock, Eva; Gurr, Sarah

doi:10.1038/d41586-023-01465-4

COMMENT
02 May 2023

Address the growing urgency of fungal disease in crops

More political and public awareness of the plight of the world’s crops when it comes to fungal disease is crucial to stave off a major threat to global food security.

Eva Stukenbrock⁰ &
Sarah Gurr¹

Eva Stukenbrock
1. Eva Stukenbrock is a professor and head of the Environmental Genomics group at Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel, Germany, and fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR).
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Sarah Gurr
1. Sarah Gurr is a professor and the chair in Food Security at the University of Exeter, UK, a visiting professor at the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands, and a fellow of the CIFAR.
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A dark cloud of dust from smut surrounds a machine harvesting crops on a sunny day — Clouds of dust caused by a fungus engulf a crop field. Credit: Darren Hauck/Reuters

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In October 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) published its first list of fungal pathogens that infect humans, and warned that certain increasingly abundant disease-causing fungal strains have acquired resistance to known antifungals¹. Even though more than 1.5 million people die each year from fungal diseases, the WHO’s list is the first global effort to systematically prioritize surveillance, research and development, and public-health interventions for fungal pathogens.

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Nature 617, 31-34 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-01465-4

References

Fisher, M. C. & Denning, D. W. Nature Rev. Microbiol. 21, 211–212 (2023).
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Steinberg, G. & Gurr, S. J. Fungal Genet. Biol. 144, 103476 (2020).
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Fisher, M. C. et al. Nature 484, 186–194 (2012).
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Bebber, D. P., Ramotowski, M. A. T. & Gurr, S. J. Nature Clim. Change 3, 985–988 (2013).
Article Google Scholar
Chaloner, T. M., Gurr, S. J. & Bebber, D. P. Nature Clim. Change 11, 710–715 (2021).
Article Google Scholar
Savary, S. et al. Nature Ecol. Evol. 3, 430–439 (2019).
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Fones, H. & Gurr, S. Fungal Genet. Biol. 79, 3–7 (2015).
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Brown, J. K. M. & Hovmøller, M. S. Science 297, 537–541 (2002).
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Möller, M. & Stukenbrock, E. H. Nature Rev. Microbiol. 15, 756–771 (2017).
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Oliver, R. P. & Hewitt, H. G. Fungicides in Crop Protection (CABI, 2014).
Google Scholar
Karasov, T. L., Chae, E., Herman, J. J. & Bergelson, J. Plant Cell 29, 666–680 (2017).
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Mesny, F. et al. Nature Commun. 12, 7227 (2021).
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Garcia-Solache, M. A. & Casadevall, A. mBio 1, e00061-10 (2010).
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Steinberg, G. et al. Nature Commun. 11, 1608 (2020).
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Cannon, S. et al. PLoS Pathog. 18, e1010860 (2022).
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Orellana-Torrejon, C., Vidal, T., Saint-Jean, S. & Suffert, F. Plant Pathol. 71, 1537–1549 (2022).
Article Google Scholar
Balesdent, M.-H. et al. Phytopathology 112, 2126–2137 (2022).
Article Google Scholar
Lahlali, R. et al. Microorganisms 10, 596 (2022).
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Weiberg, A. et al. Science 342, 118–123 (2013).
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Wang, M. et al. Nature Plants 2, 16151 (2016).
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Wang, M. & Jin, H. Trends Microbiol. 25, 4–6 (2017).
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Niu, D. et al. Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 70, 204–212 (2021).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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[1] Fisher, M. C. & Denning, D. W. Nature Rev. Microbiol. 21, 211–212 (2023).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[2] Steinberg, G. & Gurr, S. J. Fungal Genet. Biol. 144, 103476 (2020).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[3] Fisher, M. C. et al. Nature 484, 186–194 (2012).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[4] Bebber, D. P., Ramotowski, M. A. T. & Gurr, S. J. Nature Clim. Change 3, 985–988 (2013).
Article Google Scholar

[5] Chaloner, T. M., Gurr, S. J. & Bebber, D. P. Nature Clim. Change 11, 710–715 (2021).
Article Google Scholar

[6] Savary, S. et al. Nature Ecol. Evol. 3, 430–439 (2019).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[7] Fones, H. & Gurr, S. Fungal Genet. Biol. 79, 3–7 (2015).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[8] Brown, J. K. M. & Hovmøller, M. S. Science 297, 537–541 (2002).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[9] Möller, M. & Stukenbrock, E. H. Nature Rev. Microbiol. 15, 756–771 (2017).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[10] Oliver, R. P. & Hewitt, H. G. Fungicides in Crop Protection (CABI, 2014).
Google Scholar

[11] Karasov, T. L., Chae, E., Herman, J. J. & Bergelson, J. Plant Cell 29, 666–680 (2017).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[12] Mesny, F. et al. Nature Commun. 12, 7227 (2021).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[13] Garcia-Solache, M. A. & Casadevall, A. mBio 1, e00061-10 (2010).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[14] Steinberg, G. et al. Nature Commun. 11, 1608 (2020).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[15] Cannon, S. et al. PLoS Pathog. 18, e1010860 (2022).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[16] Orellana-Torrejon, C., Vidal, T., Saint-Jean, S. & Suffert, F. Plant Pathol. 71, 1537–1549 (2022).
Article Google Scholar

[17] Balesdent, M.-H. et al. Phytopathology 112, 2126–2137 (2022).
Article Google Scholar

[18] Lahlali, R. et al. Microorganisms 10, 596 (2022).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[19] Weiberg, A. et al. Science 342, 118–123 (2013).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[20] Wang, M. et al. Nature Plants 2, 16151 (2016).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[21] Wang, M. & Jin, H. Trends Microbiol. 25, 4–6 (2017).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[22] Niu, D. et al. Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 70, 204–212 (2021).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

Address the growing urgency of fungal disease in crops

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References

Competing Interests

Subjects

Latest on:

Jobs

Teaching Faculty and Lab Manager Positions

Principal Investigator, In Vitro Biology (extensive GPCR experience in highly preferred)

Recruitment of Global Talent at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOZ, CAS)

National Key Laboratory of Animal Biodiversity Conservation and Integrated Pest Management

Faculty Position

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