ug99

In 2016 rust surveys were carried out in all the four key wheat growing regions: South Rift (June, July), Mount Kenya (July), North Rift (September) and Central Rift (part of August and September). A total of 304 farms were sampled. Stem rust was detected in 235 (78.3%), yellow rust in twenty-eight (9.3%) and leaf rust in fourteen (4.7%) of the farms. Stem and yellow rust were detected in all the wheat growing regions while leaf rust was detected in South, North and Central Rift. Stem rust infection ranged from TR to 90S with maximum infection in Central Rift (88.3%), Mt. Kenya region (80.3%); South Rift (76.5%) and North Rift (72.4%). Yellow rust infection ranged TR to 60S with maximum infection in Central Rift (16.7%); North Rift(13.3 %) and minimum infection in South Rift( 4.9%),) and Mt. Kenya region ( 1.7%). Leaf rust infection ranged from trace to 50S with maximum infection in North Rift (10.2%) minimum infection in Central Rift (3.3 %) and South Rift (1.2%). Fifty percent of the eight previously released wheat varieties are now susceptible to the Ug99 race. Race analysis results from AAFC Canada suggested the presence of TTKSK which was dominating in North Rift and TTKSK, TTKST and TTTTF were dominant in the screening nursery at Njoro. Yellow rust in the region has increased in the current year owing to the incursion of a probable new race AF2012 which has resulted in increased disease severity on varieties and materials tested in the International nurseries at KALRO, Njoro.

The rapid appearance of new races of rust pathogens with virulence for the major seedling resistance genes in wheat has intensified the focus to discover adult plant resistance (APR) genes in wheat and utilize them in breeding programs for sustainable wheat production. The experimental breeding line 'Copio' developed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) in Mexico has exhibited high levels of APR to all three rusts including the African stem rust Ug99 race group. To dissect the mechanism of APR in Copio it was crossed with APAV#1, which is susceptible to all three rusts and a population of 176 F4:F5 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) was developed at CIMMYT. Both parental lines were found to be susceptible (IT >3) at the seedling stage to races TTKSK and TKTTF, which ensures the field data from Africa will be applicable for APR mapping. Seedling tests were also conducted on the RIL population using the predominant Pakistani race RRTTF, and Chi-squared tests indicated segregation of two stem rust seedling genes (?2 test P value of 0.00002). Both parents were also tested for the known APR genes Lr34/Yr18/Sr57, Lr46/Yr29/Sr58, Lr67/Yr46/Sr55 and Sr2/Yr30 using molecular markers and results indicate that APAV#1 does not carry any known APR genes, while Copio might have Lr46 and Sr2. This population was tested in four field environments (US, Pakistan, Mexico, and Kenya) for leaf, stem and yellow rusts during 2015-16 and 2016-17. Disease severity distributions of all three rusts for the RILs across all environments were continuous, suggestive of quantitative and polygenic resistance.
We are using genotyping by sequencing (GBS) as a genotyping platform and anticipate having preliminary mapping results available by spring 2018.

To reduce losses caused by rusts, regular and timely replacement of susceptible varieties with new high yielding, rust resistant varieties must occur. Data from a farmer survey carried out across Pakistan (Punjab, Sindh, KPK and Baluchistan) in 2014 enabled an analysis of the uptake of rust resistant variety NARC 2011. The empirical results indicated that the major sources of information that farmers obtained about NARC 2011 were research stations (83%), seed companies (7%) and fellow farmers (5%). Although production inputs were applied equally to both rust resistant NARC 2011 and rust susceptible wheat varieties the average yield of NARC 2011 (5,063 kg/ha) was superior to high yielding but rust susceptible varieties (4,446 kg/ha). Quality attributes of NARC 2011, including taste, color, dough kneading and chapatti making properties, were preferred by >70% of farmers). Seed availability and accessibility of NARC 2011 were major issues. Farmer awareness of rusts, especially the threat of exotic Pgt race Ug99, needs to be improved.

Wheat landrace PI 177906 has seedling and field resistance to Pgt races TTKSK and TTKST. From a cross between PI 177906 and LMPG-6, 138 doubled haploid (DH) lines and 144 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) were developed and tested for seedling resistance to Pgt race TTKSK. Goodness-of-fit tests from both populations indicated that two dominant genes in PI 177906 conditioned resistance to race TTKSK. Parents and the 138 DH lines were evaluated in the field in two experiments in Kenya; one in the main season and one in the off-season. The 90K wheat iSelect SNP genotyping platform was used to genotype the parents and DH lines and data were used to construct a genetic linkage map. Two loci for seedling resistance were mapped to chromosomes 2BL and 4BL. Two major QTL for field resistance mapped to the same regions, a 14.4 cM interval on 2BL and an 8.5 cM interval on 4BL. The QTL on 2BL and 4BL explained, respectively, 31.9-32.3% and 18.2-19.1% of the variation in the off-season and 28.3-30.4% and 5.4-6.5% of the variation in the main-season. Based on the mapping results, race specificity, and the seedling infection types, the resistance gene in 2BL could be Sr28, whereas the gene on chromosome 4BL could be novel. The mapping results will be verified in the RIL population using the flanking SNP markers in KASP assays.