Sweden
August 13, 2026
Laurène Mailhan. Photo: Alva Mårtensson.
Laurène Mailhan investigates genetic resistance against common bunt in organic wheat. She and seven other doctoral students contribute to knowledge development in the field of food through the LTV faculty's investment in the SLU and Sparbanken Skåne Centre for Sustainable Primary Production.
The fungal disease common bunt is an issue on organic wheat fields. When infected, the seeds turn dark and smell of rotting fish. Without fungicides, resistant wheat cultivars are the main defence – yet in Sweden, only one such cultivar is known: Stava.
At the Department of Plant Breeding at SLU, doctoral student Laurène Mailhan is working to understand the genetics behind the cultivar's resistance. The aim is to pave the way for more resistant cultivars in the future.
– There are different races of common bunt in Sweden, and Stava is resistant to all of them. In my project, we are trying to understand the resistance mechanisms. There are some suspicions about which genes in Stava influence resistance, but the research is not entirely conclusive, she says.
The project is important because the cultivation of organic wheat has grown in Sweden over the past twenty years – and with it, the incidence of common bunt.
– We need to understand what is happening with this disease, how we can fight against it in organic agriculture, and how it can be prevented in the long term. I hope we produce results that will be useful to farmers.
A doctoral student portrait of Laurène Mailhan is now published on the centre's website.
Read the text here: Organic wheat threatened by common bunt – solutions sought in genetic resistance.
Centre for Sustainable Primary Production
The SLU and Sparbanken Skåne Centre for Sustainable Primary Production was established in Alnarp in 2025. The centre is a co-funding arrangement between the LTV faculty and Sparbanken Skåne through its owner foundation Finn.
Through the faculty's investment, funding is provided for, among other things, eight doctoral positions whose research will contribute to knowledge development in sustainable primary production in the field of food.
All doctoral students will be introduced during the year. Read all portraits here: Doctoral students.
Topics
Species
