ARS | Publication request: Stripe Rust Epidemiology and Control in the United States

Submitted to: International Plant Protection Congress
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: January 1, 2003
Publication Date: May 1, 2004
Citation: Chen, X. 2004. Stripe rust epidemiology and control in the united states. International Plant Protection Congress.

Technical Abstract: Stripe rust of wheat, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (PST) is most frequently destructive in the western US, and has become a devastating disease in the central US. Stripe rust of barley, caused by P. striiformis f. sp. hordei (PSH), has spread and established in the western and the south central US since it was first reported in southern Texas in 1991. Both stripe rusts have been monitored annually by collaborators through field survey and using trap plots. Races have been identified using 20 wheat genotypes and 12 barley genotypes for PST and PSH, respectively. More than 90 PST races and more than 60 PSH races have been identified. In recent years, the same races have become predominant throughout the US. Use of genetic resistance has been the primary approach to control stripe rusts. Durable high-temperature, adult-plant resistance that is non-race specific has been successfully used to control stripe rust of wheat for decades and has been recently identified in barley cultivars. Multiline cultivars that are composed of several lines possessing different genes for race-specific seedling resistance have been widely grown in the Pacific Northwest of the US and have been resistant for more than 10 years. Mixtures of two or more cultivars, which have been grown in 30% of the wheat acreage in the Pacific Northwest, also have contributed to the stripe rust control of wheat. Effective fungicides, used as foliar spray when necessary, have prevented huge crop losses.