International surveillance of wheat rust pathogens: progress and challenges

Abstract

Surveillance of wheat rust pathogens, including assessments of rust incidence and virulence characterization via either trap plots or race (pathotype) surveys, has provided information fundamental in formulating and adopting appropriate national and international policies, investments and strategies in plant protection, plant breeding, seed systems, and in rust pathogen research. Despite many successes from national and regional co-ordination of rust surveillance, few attempts were made to extend rust surveillance to international or even global levels. The Global Cereal Rust Monitoring System was established to address this deficiency. It is underpinned by an information platform that includes standardized protocols for methods and systems used in surveys, preliminary virulence testing, data, sample transmission and management at the field and national and global levels, and includes two web-based visualization tools. While considerable progress has been made towards a global system for monitoring variability in the wheat stem rust pathogen, and linking this to the threat posed by this pathogen to regional wheat production, some challenges remain, including ongoing commitment to support rust surveillance, and the ability to share and compare surveillance data.

Microsatellite analysis of selected Puccinia triticina races in South Africa

“…This clearly illustrates the potentially devastating effects of leaf rust migration to new localities and subsequent adaptation for additional virulence genes. The value of continued wheat rust surveillance was emphasized by Park et al (2011) in terms of the support such information provides to rust management. In addition to conventional studies of race typing on a set of differentials, which have provided most of the historical data on pathogenic variation in cereal rust fungi, molecular analyses are frequently used to study diversity and phylogenetic relationships at both local (Ordoñez and Kolmer 2009) and global levels (Kolmer and Liu 2000).…”

Virulence surveys of wheat leaf rust in the Czech Republic and resistance genes in registered cultivars

“…Availability of suitable sources of resistance and knowledge of virulence in the rust population are necessary prerequisites for successful resistance breeding. The importance of surveillance of cereal rust pathotypes (races) was recently underlined by Park et al (2011) and it is one of the most important topics in the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (MacIntosh & Pretorius 2011). This technical report presents results of the race surveys in relation to leaf rust resistance genes in wheat cultivars grown between1966 and 2001.…”

Intact spore MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and proteomic analysis of Puccinia pathogenic fungi

“…), which invade only a set of specific plant species or limited group of host species. In addition, there are various physiological races (pathotypes), which differ in their virulence towards a certain set of genotypes of the same host plant species [5,6]. Chemical treatments in the crop management reduce yield losses; however this protection is expensive especially for susceptible plant cultivars.…”