South Dakota State University researchers are advancing efforts to strengthen wheat disease resistance as crop losses from pests and pathogens continue to weigh on producers and the grain supply chain.

Farmers lose an average of 20% of their crops to disease and pests each year, according to the American Phytopathological Society. For U.S. wheat growers, those losses amount to about $700 million annually, with additional fungicide costs pushing the economic impact beyond $1 billion.

The South Dakota Wheat Commission is backing research led by Dr. Gazala Ameen, assistant professor in SDSU’s Department of Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science, as part of an ongoing push to improve wheat resilience against evolving disease threats.

Wheat diseases remain a moving target for growers and breeders. Disease prevalence and severity vary by region, and pathogens continue adapting to chemical controls and genetic resistance built into commercial varieties. That dynamic has made long-term disease management a priority for breeding programs and seed developers.

Ameen’s work centers on plant immunity receptors, proteins inside plant cells that recognize pathogens and activate defense responses. Her background in plant pathology and molecular biology positions her to connect practical disease management with deeper genetic analysis.

Shortly after joining SDSU in 2021, Ameen collaborated with growers on a statewide disease survey, helping identify gaps in current research. One of the major areas of focus became bacterial leaf streak, a persistent disease pressure in South Dakota wheat production.

To address that challenge, Ameen began screening wheat genetics from around the world to identify novel regions in the genome associated with disease resistance.

Over the past five years, Ameen and her collaborators have evaluated more than 2,000 wheat lines across winter, spring and durum classes. The research has identified resistance traits against several major wheat diseases, including spot blotch and bacterial leaf streak.

Researchers are now narrowing those genetic regions to pinpoint the specific immunity receptor genes responsible for resistance. That work could help breeders incorporate stronger, more durable resistance into future wheat varieties.

The findings are being shared with breeding programs globally, allowing seed developers to build localized resistance strategies into commercial wheat lines. For the milling sector, stronger disease resistance can improve grain quality consistency and reduce the risk of disease-related downgrades.

Ameen’s research has also gained broader recognition through national and international collaborations. Earlier this year, SDSU hosted the fifth annual International Bacterial Leaf Streak Research Conference, organized by Ameen. She also secured a U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant to support continued bacterial leaf streak research.

The work is expected to support both short-term grower profitability and long-term improvements in wheat quality, sustainability and food security, with implications extending from seed development to flour milling and end-use markets.

Source: South Dakota State University, "Solving a billion-dollar problem: Identifying disease-resistant wheat genes"