Enhancing the detection of Tilletia indica, the cause of Karnal bunt - Final Report

Tilletia indica, the cause of Karnal bunt of wheat, is the target of strict quarantine regulations by most wheat growing countries and its presence raises trade barriers to wheat exports. The international diagnostic protocol currently used in Australia involves the tentative identification of the spores based on morphology followed by germination of the spores and a molecular protocol to confirm the identity.

Quarantine is extremely important to Australia as we are free of Karnal Bunt. This project reports on the development of an enhanced protocol to address the limitations in the current protocol. These limitations include:

a) the identification of morphologically similar species of T. indica and T. walkeri when there are less than 10 spores present in the sample and

b) the germination of spores for molecular confirmation have found to be inconsistent and adds another 14 days to the test before confirmation of identification can occur.