Understanding the economic impact of Macrophomina (Charcoal rot)

This project will integrate field and glasshouse experiments with molecular biology and advanced detection methodologies to generate new knowledge on impact and epidemiology of Macrophomina spp. in Australia. Deliverables include two glasshouse trials at the University of Melbourne to inform host association of Macrophomina spp. and to assess effectiveness of advanced remote sensing technologies for non-destructive detection of charcoal rot in sorghum. Moreover, one soybean and sorghum field trial in NSW and one soybean and sorghum field trial in Qld will be conducted in 2025 to assess yield loss to charcoal rot. Plants obtained under DAF surveillance activities (DAQ2106-007RTX) as well as samples collected from 2025 field trials will be used to establish a curated collection of Macrophomina isolates at the University of Melbourne, which will be further genotyped to investigate mechanisms of co-infection and in planta spread of Macrophomina species in a variety of naturally infected grain crops. Data and outputs produced in this project will be further compiled with data and results obtained from current and previous, national, and international GRDC- and non-GRDC-funded projects to address the complex issue of epidemiology of Macrophomina species and their impact on broadacre crops in Australia.