The races of wheat stem rust found in Canada and identified by the "standard" and "formula" methods are described. Seven races or race groups made up 90.8% of the isolates. In 1964 a new system of race identification was introduced. It makes use of virulence formulas consisting of the numbers of effective resistance genes in the numerator and ineffective genes in the denominator. Resistance genes Sr6, Sr8, Sr9a, Sr9b, and Sr13 confer resistance to most isolates obtained since 1964, but no single gene confers resistance to all isolates. Experience shows that 250 isolates per year are sufficient to establish the trends of prevalence of the main races. The detection of rare, new combinations of virulence requires screening varieties carrying combinations of resistance genes. The main races in the past 50 years have been 56 and 15B. Race 56 is uniform with a single subrace but 15B is variable with many subraces. There is no evidence that unnecessary virulence is harmful or that "stabilizing selection" is operative in Canada, nor is there evidence that virulence on resistance genes Sr6 and Sr11 is harmful to the rust.
Experiments were designed to show whether or not virulence genes reduce fitness and bring about stabilizing selection. The competitive abilities of seven related races of Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici were studied on seedlings of three to five susceptible wheat varieties by growing mixtures of the races in greenhouses, growth cabinets, and field plots. In experiments in which simple races with few virulence genes were mixed with complex races with one, two, or three extra virulence genes, the complex races predominated after 4 to 10 generations in five of the six mixtures, and the simple race predominated in one mixture. A complex race predominated over simple races in the field experiment. It was concluded that virulence genes did not impair the fitness of the wheat stem rust races studied.In one race mixture studied in growth cabinets the complex race predominated at 25 °C, and the simple race, at 15 °C. Temperature did not differentially influence the competitive abilities of the races in three other mixtures.Incubation periods for all races were shorter at higher temperatures, but races C18(15B-1L) and C33(15B-1L) developed faster than races C9(15B-1L), C37(15), C38(15B-1L), C42(15), and C49(15) at all temperatures. In addition, races C18(15B-1L) and C33(15B-1L) produced more urediospores per pustule than races C9(15B-1L), C37(15), and C49(15). The differences in incubation period and spore production are considered to be the most important factors studied and they could cause the differences in aggressiveness of the seven races.
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