A mutant strain of the wheat stem rust fungus, Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici, has emerged that threatens as much as 60 million tons of world wheat production. The story of this emergence can be found here. There is a clearinghouse of information on the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative website. The emergence of such a potentially devastating crop pathogen highlights once again the practical importance of evolutionary biology for understanding major world problems.
Mutant Fungus Threatening World Wheat Supplies
June 2nd, 2010 · 2 Comments
Tags: Human Ecology · Infectious Disease
You see wheat prices these days?
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