leaf rust

Stem and leaf rusts affect the winter and spring wheat in the Novosibirsk region. During 2008-2017 leaf rust incidence was generally moderate, from 20 to 40%. A leaf rust outbreak occurred in 2015 when incidence increased up to 80%. Leaf rust severity on the 'Thatcher' NILs ranged from immune or resistant to highly susceptible host response with maximum severity of 90S. Lines carrying genes Lr17, Lr18, Lr24, Lr29, Lr35, Lr37, Lr44, and LrW remained almost free of infection for the whole time of inspection. Genes Lr12, Lr13, Lr28, Lr34, and Lr38 exhibited moderate resistance but they did not provide sufficient level of resistance in favorable conditions. Since race-specific genes Lr24 and Lr29 are still effective in the neighboring Novosibirsk and Omsk regions, they might be recommended for breeding purposes in Western Siberia.
In 2016 stem rust was more prevalent and widespread in the region than ever before. Disease incidence ranged between 4.5 - 60% with high severity up to 80S in six fields from seven observed locations. The 4th ISRTN and varieties carrying Sr31 of West Siberian germplasm were assessed in field trials to monitor the virulence of the local population. There was no virulence to Sr9b, Sr9e, Sr20, Sr28, Sr29, Sr33, Sr39, Sr40, SrWld, Sr2 complex. Possible virulence to Sr6, Sr11, Sr12, Sr13, Sr17, Sr24, Sr25, Sr30, Sr31, Sr35, Sr38, Sr44, Sr57 was observed with low frequency. Entries genotyped for gene Sr31 were scored as MS and S. However, follow up race analysis work is needed to determine the actual stem rust races present and confirm the suspected possible observed virulence on Sr31.

Leaf rust caused by Puccinia triticina is one of the most historical and economically important wheat diseases. Breeding for new cultivars with effective gene combinations is the most promising approach for reducing losses due to leaf rust. Wild emmer wheat, Triticum dicoccoides, the progenitor of modern tetraploid and hexaploid wheats, is an important resource for new variability for disease resistance genes. An accession of T. dicoccoides acc. pau4656 showed resistance against prevailing leaf rust races in India, when tested at the seedling and adult plant stage. The introgression line, developed from the cross of the leaf rust resistant T. dicoccoides acc. pau4656 and the susceptible T. durum cultivar Bijaga yellow, was crossed with T. durum cultivar PBW114 to generate recombinant inbred lines (RIL) for mapping leaf rust resistance gene(s). RIL population was screened against highly virulent leaf rust race 77-5 at seedling stage and inheritance analyses revealed the segregation of two leaf rust resistance genes. The genes have been temporarily designated as LrD1 and LrD2. A set of 387 SSR marker was used for bulked segregant analysis (BSA). The markers showing diagnostic polymorphism in the resistant and susceptible bulks were amplified on whole of the population. Single marker analysis using MapDisto software placed LrD1 on the long arm of chromosome 6A linked to the SSR marker Xwmc256 and LrD2 on long arm of chromosome 2A close to the SSR marker Xwmc632. T. durum cv. PBW114 used in the present study was also resistant to leaf rust at the seedling stage. So one of these leaf rust resistance genes might have been contributed by the PBW114 and other by T. dicoccoides. The current study identified valuable leaf rust resistance genes for deployment in wheat breeding programme.

Improvement of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a major goal of plant breeders and pathologists to ensure food security and self sufficiency. Relationship between different levels of stem, stripe and leaf rust severity on the two grain yield components (1000-kernel weight and plot yield) were studied during 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 seasons at Sids Agricultural Research Station. Different epiphytotic levels of stem, stripe and leaf rust were created using spreader artificial inoculation and spraying the fungicide Sumi-eight. To create different rust severity, one, two, and three sprays were applied at 7 day intervals. Protected control treatment was obtained by spraying the fungicide four times. Correlation coefficient (R²) analysis depicted that positive correlation was found between different rust severity levels and yield loss. In 2015/2016 growing season, which stem rust started early, disease severity (%) reached its relatively high percentage (80%) with the highest loss (%) in both 1000 kernel weight (36.3%) and plot weight (37.82%). The effect of stripe rust infection on yield components was lower than those of stem rust and lowest in leaf rust. On the other hand, the lowest loss was observed with 10% of stem, stripe and leaf rust which sprayed three times. During 2016/2017 stripe rust infection caused the highest loss (%) in yield components, under the highest level 80% of severity, on the other hand leaf rust showed low level of loss (%) Compared with the stripe and stem rust.