Dr Colin Wellings

Research interests

I have a long standing interest in cereal plant pathology with an emphasis on the rust diseases of wheat, barley, oats and triticale.

I conduct research and teaching related to pathogen variability genetics of host resistance and host pathogen interactions. I also work on fungal plant pathology, international pathogen monitoring and cereal breeding for increased resistance to rust.

Background

Colin Received his B.Sc.Agr and his M.Sc.Agr. as well as his PhD from the University of Sydney.

Dr Wellings is employed by Industry & Investment NSW and is on secondment to the University of Sydney, Cereal Rust Laboratory at the Plant Breeding Institute since 1980. During this period, he has assumed research and advisory roles in the Australian Cereal Rust Control Program with particular emphasis on the stripe rust diseases affecting wheat, and certain grasses and barley. His research interests include annual surveys of the pathogen population, studies of host resistance and development of near isogenic lines.

Recent publications

• Qamar, M., Ahmad, S.D., Shah, A.H., Wellings, C.R., Batool, F. (2008) Postulation of stripe rust resistant genes in some Australian bread wheat cultivars and their response to temperature. Pakistan Journal of Botany 40: 2573-2585.
• Pathan, A.K., Wellings, C.R., Bariana, H.S., Park, R.F. Evaluation of seedling and adult plant resistance in European wheat cultivars to Australian isolates of Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (2008) Euphytica, 163 (2), pp. 283-301.
• Haque, S., Park, R.F., Keiper, F.J., Bariana, H.S., Wellings, C.R. Pathogenic and molecular variation support the presence of genetically distinct clonal lineages in Australian populations of Puccinia graminis f. sp. Avenae (2008) Mycological Research, 112 (6), pp. 663-673.
• Spielmeyer, W., Singh, R.P., McFadden, H., Wellings, C.R., Huerta-Espino, J., Kong, X., Appels, R., Lagudah, E.S. Fine scale genetic and physical mapping using interstitial deletion mutants of Lr34 /Yr18: A disease resistance locus effective against multiple pathogens in wheat (2008) Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 116 (4), pp. 481-490.
• Pathan, A.K., Park, R.F., Wellings, C.R., Bariana, H.S. The expression and genetics of resistance to stripe (yellow) rust in three European and four New Zealand wheat cultivars (2007) Journal of Applied Genetics, 48 (3), pp. 199-210.
• Wellings, C.R. Puccinia striiformis in Australia: A review of the incursion, evolution, and adaptation of stripe rust in the period 1979-2006 (2007) Australian Journal of Agricultural Research, 58 (6), pp. 567-575.

Contact

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