Acevedo, M., Steadman, J. R., and Rosas, J. C. 2013. Uromyces appendiculatus in Honduras: Pathogen diversity and host resistance screening Plant Dis. 97:652-661.Bean rust, caused by the fungus Uromyces appendiculatus, is a major constraint for common bean production worldwide. Virulence of U. appendiculatus collected from wild and cultivated Phaseotus spp. was examined in 28 locations across Honduras. Host accessions representing wild and domesticated Phaseolus spp. collected at the same sampling locations were evaluated for resistance against U. appendiculatus. In total, 91 pathotypes were identified from 385 U. appendiculatus isolates according to their virulence on each of the 12 host differentials. No significant difference in pathogen total virulence, measured as the mean disease score, was found between locations. However, significant differences were found in pathotype virulence among isolates collected from different Phaseolus spp. within a location. Moreover, when locations were compared on the basis of pathotype occurrence and frequency, differences among locations were evident. No two locations had the same pathotype composition. The most common pathotype was virulent on 9 of the 12 differential lines. A high number of resistant accessions were identified in Phaseolus coccineus and P. lunatus. Although most wild P. vulgaris accessions were highly susceptible, rust resistance was observed in P. vulgaris landraces collected from farmer's fields. Thirty-two (52%) of the accessions screened showed intermediate to high levels of resistance and, of those, 16% were P. coccineus accessions. Our findings support the hypothesis that interaction of U. appendiculatus in host populations composed of diverse Phaseolus spp. and genotypes has favored highly diverse and virulent pathotypes, creating a center for virulence diversity of the pathogen in Honduras. The high percentage of interrhediate and highly resistant accessions identified in the present study supports the strategy of collecting plants from the center of diversity of a pathogen or in locations with high incidence of disease and pathogen diversity to maximize the probability of identifying new sources of resistance.Bean rust, caused by the fungus Uromyces appendiculatus, is a major constraint for common bean production around the world. U. appendiculatus epidemics have been most serious in tropical and subtropical areas in the Americas and Africa but severe epidemics have also occurred in temperate climates. A high virulence diversity in U. appendiculatus in many geographic regions has been documented (14,21,23,33,39,40,41,44). Despite the high number of virulence patterns described worldwide, two major pathotype groups can be distinguished in {/. appendiculatus. One of the pathotype groups is virulent on common bean cultivars of Andean origin while the second pathotype group is virulent on common bean cultivars of both the Andean gene pool and the Middle American gene pool (2,23). Based on these results, parallel evolution of host and pathogen has been ...