*2.8. Virulence Assay*

Fungal conidia were harvested from CMC medium and were suspended in liquid minimum Gamborg B5 medium (or GB5, Coolaber, China, containing 0.6 <sup>g</sup>·L−<sup>1</sup> GB5 salts, 10 mM glucose, pH 7.0), and the concentration was adjusted to 1 × 10<sup>6</sup> conidia/mL. The infection assay was conducted according to the reported method [14] with modifications as follows: the wheat (*Triticum aestivum* cultivars Zhongyuan 98–68) coleoptiles grown for two days were cut with a scissor and inoculated with 5 μL conidial suspension, and then they were kept in a transparent box at 23 ◦C under a 12 h/12 h light cycle and humid condition. The infected samples were photographed every day, and the lesion areas were calculated using the ImageJ software.
