Sydney ID The Fungisphere - Fungicide resistance in crop pathogens: a holistic approach.

Topic Fungicides have been at the forefront of plant disease management for almost 50 years. Unfortunately, resistance has emerged in almost every major crop pathogen and is threatening production at a time when finding new effective fungicides is proving to be extremely challenging. This presentation will cover how fungicides are used in crop production, the main MoAs, risks and national resistance status. Fran will use case scenarios to illustrate the similarities between the genetic mechanisms underpinning the emergence of fungicide resistance in crop and animal pathogens. Finally, he will explain how the need to understand this genetic complexity is driving the development of new resistance detection and long-read sequencing approaches in his research group. He will discuss the role played by these technologies in resistance surveillance and how this research translates into the development of improved integrated disease management approaches.
Where Fran will present in person in Camperdown (room details to follow). You can also join via Teams, on the link below.
Bio Associate Professor Fran Lopez has been studying fungicide resistance since 2002. Fran’s first contact with research was at a hospital investigating the relationship between some HLA markers and breast cancer. After a few years in clinics, he decided to try plant pathology and completed a PhD on fungicide resistance in cucurbit powdery mildew at University of Malaga (Spain). In 2010 he started a postdoc on cereal powdery mildews at the John Innes Centre (UK). He moved to Australia for a second postdoc on cereal and grape diseases at Curtin University (Perth) in 2012. Since 2014, Fran leads the Fungicide Resistance Group within the Centre for Crop and Disease Management at Curtin University. Fran and his team investigate how fungicide resistance evolves, the molecular mechanisms behind this process and how to improve the management of fungicides to reduce the impact of resistant pathogens.
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