stripe rust

Stripe rust of wheat, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), is one of the most important diseases of wheat in western Canada. Although stripe rust was an issue in southern Alberta for many years, it became important in other parts of the country after a dramatic population shift in 2000, resulting from an invasive race. Sporadic epidemics of the disease are common and cause considerable loss, due to which, an intermediate level of resistance to stripe rust was required for new varietal registrations beginning 2017. Virulence surveys are of key importance in germplasm and cultivar development as they provide breeders and pathologists the information needed to better understand host-pathogen interactions and the effectiveness of Yr genes. Virulence characterization revealed a wide range of virulence phenotypes exhibited by 33 Pst races in western Canada, although only 2-3 races were predominant. The expression of Yr genes may differ between controlled conditions and natural field conditions as previously reported. Thus, stripe rust differentials and wheat cultivars grown in western Canada are also screened at multiple locations in every year. At present, all stage resistance genes Yr1, Yr4, Yr5, Yr15, Yr76, and YrSP are effective against the predominant Pst races, whereas at the adult stage under field conditions, Yr2, Yr17, Yr28, or those carried by Yamhill are also effective. Seedling resistance genes Yr7, Yr10, Yr17, or Yr27 were the most common in Canadian wheat cultivars. Of these, only Yr17 is effective under field conditions. Adult plant resistance genes Yr18 and Yr29 are carried by many cultivars, but are not effective under high disease pressure. The effectiveness of each resistance gene may vary between the eastern and western prairies of western Canada due to differences in virulence. Regular virulence surveys using contemporary and regional cultivars facilitate the development of rust resistant cultivars.

In India, wheat crop is a major contributor to the agricultural economy of India, occupying 30.7 mha area with 98.38 mt production. Stripe or yellow rust is a constraint to wheat production on about 12.0 m ha in the Northern Hills and North Western region of India. Varieties resistant at the time of release become susceptible usually within a few years due to new pathogen races. The present study conducted in 2015-16 was undertaken to identify stripe rust resistant genotypes among a set of 146 advanced breeding lines and popular cultivars. All genotypes were planted in two replications in northern India at ten locations viz., Karnal, Hisar (Haryana), Ludhiana, Gurdaspur (Punjab), Malan, Bajoura, Dhaulakuan (Himachal Pradesh), Pantnagar (Uttarakhand), Durgapura (Rajasthan), Jammu (J & K) and Delhi. After every 20 genotypes, infector (susceptible cultivar to both pathotypes) was planted. All genotypes were inoculated with mixture of prevalent Pst races 78S84 (Yr 27 virulence) and 46S119 (Yr 9 virulence) at Karnal. Out of 58 released cultivars grown in different zones of the country, fifteen lines (HS 507, DBW 90, HD 3086, WH 1080, WH 1124, WH 1142, HD 4728, HI 8498, HI 8737, MPO 1215 (D), NIDW 295 (d), UAS 428 (D), UAS 446 (D), DBW 71, KRL 210) showed stripe rust ACI < 10.00 (average coefficient of infection). But among advance 88 wheat lines, there was good level of resistance in 50 lines (ACI <10.00). Lines having AUDPC values <20% of those of the susceptible checks (maximum AUDPC value 2500 on susceptible check) were considered to be slow rusters. In present study, some of the wheat varieties (DBW 93, HS 490, PBW 723, PBW 644, VL 829, VL 892, WH 1105, WR 544 ) grown at present in northern India were identified as slow ruster lines. The information generated can be utilized in improving the stripe rust resistance of popular cultivars.

Wheat rusts, notably yellow rust, are amongst the most damaging diseases on wheat in Morocco. The objective of this survey was to assess the incidence and severity of wheat rust diseases across Morocco. The survey was carried out during April-May 2017 where growth stage of wheat ranged from anthesis to physiological maturity. The severity and response rating for the adult plant field reaction to rusts were based on the modified Cobb scale. A total of 117 bread wheat fields were inspected. The survey revealed that the most prevalent disease was yellow rust (96 out of 117 fields). Leaf rust, SLD (Septoria Like Diseases) and to some extent root rot complex were less prevalent. Leaf rust was only observed in 8 out of 117 inspected fields and exhibited low severity. Stem rust was observed in only one field. Following the drought of 2016, the 2017 growing season was an epidemic year for yellow rust in Morocco. It was detected across all regions and 50% of inspected fields were highly infected. Those that were lightly or not infected were sprayed with fungicides up to two times. Almost all commercial bread wheat cultivars in Morocco are highly susceptible to yellow rust. Appearance of new virulent races is leading to the breakdown of resistance in major cultivars e.g., Arrihan, which had very few pustules of yellow rust in 2013 was highly susceptible in the last three years. Samples of yellow rust from 2016 revealed a new virulent race in all samples, temporarily designated Pst (new) [virulence pattern: [Yr-,2,3,-,-,6,7,8,9,-,-,17,-,25,-,32,Sp,AvS,-]. Thirty-four samples submitted to GRRC in 2017 were all of the same genotype, identical to the new race already detected in 2016. The results demonstrate that surveillance and genotyping/race phenotyping of samples may be important for early-warning and anticipatory breeding strategies.