College of Agriculture and Bioresources

Research Area(s)

  • disease resistance in pulse crops and their wild relatives
  • root rots in pea and lentil
  • fungal pathogens on faba bean
  • Colletotrichum lentis on lentil

Department

Plant Sciences, Crop Development Centre

Research Interests

As a member of the Crop Development Centre (CDC) at the University of Saskatchewan, my research program is focused on pulse crop pathology with particular emphasis on problems in Saskatchewan. The overarching theme of my research program is to study the biology of fungal and bacterial pathogens and their interaction with host plants. The ultimate goal of my research is to gain a better understanding of strategies employed by these pathogens to successfully invade and colonize pulse crops, and to exploit this knowledge for the purpose of developing successful breeding and disease management strategies. In order to achieve this goal, my research program follows a hierarchical approach, covering aspects from the field level down to the microscopic and molecular level.

Education

  • Ph.D., University of Reading, UK
  • M.Sc., University of London, UK
  • Dipl. Ing. (hort), Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences, Germany

Selected Publications

Banniza, S., Warale, R., Menat, J., Cohen-Skali, A., Armstrong-Cho, C., and Bhadauria, V.  2018.  The long path to understanding the host–pathogen interactions of Colletotrichum lentis on lentil.  Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology, 40(2): 199-209.  https://doi.org/10.1080/07060661.2018.1451391

Sari, E., Bhadauria, V., Vandenberg, A., and Banniza, S.  2017.  Genotype-dependent interaction of lentil lines with Ascochyta lentis.  Frontiers in Plant Science, 8:764.  https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2017.00764  

Bhadauria, V., Vijayan, P., Wei, Y., and Banniza, S.  2017.  Transcriptome analysis reveals a complex interplay between resistance and effector genes during the compatible lentil-Colletotrichum lentis interaction.  Scientific Reports, 7: 42338.  https://doi.org/10.1038/srep42338

Bhadauria, V., Ramsay, L., Bett, K.E., and Banniza, S.  2017.  QTL mapping reveals genetic determinants of fungal disease resistance in the wild lentil species Lens ervoidesScientific Reports, 7: 3231.  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-03463-9

Menat, J., Armstrong-Cho, C., and Banniza, S.  2016.  Lack of evidence for sexual reproduction in field populations of Colletotrichum lentis.  Fungal Ecology, 20: 66-74.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.funeco.2015.11.001

Habibi, A., Peever, T.L., Banniza, S., and Morrall, R.A.A.  2015.  First Report of Ascochyta Blight of Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) caused by Peyronellaea pinodes in Canada.  Plant Disease, 100(2): 520.  https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-05-15-0579-PDN

Bhadauria, V., MacLachlan, R., Pozniak, C., and Banniza, S.  2015.  Candidate effectors contribute to race differentiation and virulence of the lentil anthracnose pathogen Colletotrichum lentis. BMC Genomics 16: 628.  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-015-1836-2

Armstrong-Cho, C., Lulsdorf, M.M., Hashemi, P., and Banniza, S.  2015.  Characterization of resistance to ascochyta blight of selected wild Cicer germplasm. Botany, 93(11): 723-734.  https://doi.org/10.1139/cjb-2015-0072

Syrovy, L.D., Banniza, S., and Shirtliffe, S.J.  2014.  Yield and agronomic advantages of pea leaf type mixtures under organic management.  Agronomy Journal, 107(1): 113-120. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj14.0218

Courses

Undergraduate thesis course:

  • PLSC 492: Literature / small research thesis in Plant Sciences

Graduate courses:

  • PLSC 880 Introduction to plant disease epidemiology
  • PLSC 881 Host-pathogen interaction and breeding for disease resistance in plants