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Date: 11 Jun 2009
Source: Business Weekly [edited]
<http://www.businessweekly.co.uk/2009061135076/academia-and-research/john-innes-centre-helps-to-fight-barley-disease.html>

The John Innes Centre (JIC) is heading a major national offensive against ramularia, a new emerging barley disease that has gripped areas of Europe. The CORACLE project will pull together the efforts of leading plant scientists, breeders and industry to prevent the disease taking root in the UK, having already spread through northern Europe, particularly in Germany and Scandinavia, where it has caused substantial yield losses.

Ramularia leaf spot is a fungal disease of barley that has come to prominence in the last 10 years. It is a significant problem in Ireland and Scotland and is spreading into England, with Norfolk seeing a major outbreak last year [2008].

Taking an integrated approach, the scientists and companies working on CORACLE will attempt to reduce the severity of ramularia outbreaks in the field and stop the disease spreading in contaminated barley grain. In the longer term, the research will help plant breeders to produce barley varieties that are more resistant to ramularia.

Project coordinator Professor James Brown of the JIC, said: "We still don't know very much about this disease. We'll be improving our scientific knowledge of ramularia and helping to combat it." Dr Peter Werner, a breeder, said: "To date, only limited progress has been made towards ramularia control. We need improved understanding of the pathology of the disease."

[Byline: Lautaro Vargas]

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[Ramularia leaf spot (RLS) of barley is caused by the fungus _Ramularia collo-cygni_. Symptoms including small brown rectangular lesions with yellow margins within leaf veins, premature leaf senescence, and loss of plant vigour. RLS can cause extensive damage to the upper leaves in spring and winter barley once crops have finished flowering, which can cause extensive losses in yield (up to 0.6 tons per hectare) and quality. RLS is often found in association with other leaf spots such as sun or agrochemical scorch and nutritional stress.

The fungus can also affect some other graminaceous hosts, which may serve as pathogen reservoirs. It can be detected on the seed and within symptomless leaves. It is spread via infected plant material and wind, but its epidemiology is not yet completely known.

RLS is present in central Europe, South and Central America, and New Zealand. It poses the greatest threat to spring malting barley, and resistant varieties are being developed. Disease management at present includes fungicide treatments, with correct timing being critical. The related species _Ramularia beticola_ causes leaf spot disease on sugarbeet.

Maps
UK:
<http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/europe/united_kingdom.gif>  and
<http://healthmap.org/r/008E>
RLS distribution in Europe:
<http://www.bba.bund.de/cln_045/nn_813794/DE/Aktuelles/aktschadorg/ramularia/verbreitung.html>

Pictures of RLS symptoms on barley:
<http://wwwuser.gwdg.de/~rcc/assets/rcc-bestand2.jpg>  and
<http://www.darcof.dk/enews/newsmail/november_2006/figures/rls.jpg>

Links
JIC media release on CORACLE:
<http://www.jic.ac.uk/corporate/media-and-public/current-releases/090602ramularia.htm>
Barley RLS fact sheet (with pictures):
<http://www.hgca.com/document.aspx?fn=load&media_id=3505&publicationId=3847>
Information on RLS disease and research:
<.com/content.output/2261/2261/News/News/Ramularia%20leaf%20spot%20in%20barley.mspx>,
<http://www.hgca.com/document.aspx?fn=load&media_id=5127&publicationId=5677>,
<http://www.hgca.com/cms_publications.output/2/2/Publications/Publication/Role%20of%20seed-borne%20infection%20in%20Rhynchosporium%20and%20Ramularia%20epidemics%20in%20barley.mspx?fn=show&pubcon=3735> 
and via
<http://wwwuser.gwdg.de/~rcc/index.htm>
RLS life cycle:
<http://www.hgca.com/minisite_manager.output/3675/3675/Cereal%20Disease%20Encyclopedia/Diseases/Ramularia%20Leaf%20Spot.mspx?minisiteId=26>
_Ramularia collo-cygni_ taxonomy:
<http://www.indexfungorum.org/Names/SynSpecies.asp?RecordID=133476>
John Innes Centre:
<http://www.jic.ac.uk/corporate/index.htm>
- Mod.DHA]