Abstract
Invasive fungal pathogens like the barley pathogen Pyrenophora teres (P. teres), pose significant threats to global crop cultivation cause substantial economic losses worldwide. This study focuses on amplifying our understanding on P. teres evolution and pathogenicity. The objectives included describing P. teres population genomics, developing resistance evaluation methods, and conducting comparative genomics across Pyrenophora species. Population analysis unveiled the high prevalence of one of its forms, P. teres f. teres, in France. Moreover, it unveiled a profound global genetic population structure intricately linked to barley's vernalization requirements, indicative of an evolutionary history tightly intertwined with its host's domestication and spread. A reproducible methodology for testing barley varietal resistance to P. teres was developed using detached leaf assays and image analysis. Evolutionary analysis across Pyrenophora species elucidated taxonomic relationships and highlighted genomic homogeneity with sporadic gene differences, emphasizing the need for further investigation into virulence determinants like the ToxB gene. Overall, this research advances understanding of P. teres evolution and provides innovative tools for its study, paving the way for future research avenues.