ARS | Publication request: FIRST REPORT OF ONION RUST PUCCINIA ALLI ON ALLIUM PSKEMENSE AND A. ALTAICUM

Submitted to: Plant Disease
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: June 23, 2003
Publication Date: January 1, 2004
Citation: LUPIEN, S.L., HELLIER, B.C., DUGAN, F.M. FIRST REPORT OF ONION RUST PUCCINIA ALLI ON ALLIUM PSKEMENSE AND A. ALTAICUM. PLANT DISEASE. 2004. v.88 p. 83.

Interpretive Summary: Allium pskemense, a wild perennial onion relative, and A. altaicum, the wild ancestor of bunching onion (A. fistulosum) are both occasionally grown under cultivation or exploited for food in central Asia. Both species have been used in research on breeding and systematics of the genus Allium, and to a lesser extent for screening for pest and disease resistance. We observed onion rust, Puccinia allii, on A. pskemense in June 2003 and on A. altaicum in June 2000. To our knowledge, this is the first report of onion rust on either of these species.

Technical Abstract: Onion rust, Puccinia allii, is here reported for the first time on two wild Allium species, Allium altaicum and A. pskemense. Both are native to central Asia and were being grown for germplasm increase in Pullman, Washington when the disease was observed in June 2000 and June 2003, respectively. Characters of telia, uredinia, teliopores, mesospores and urediniospores most closely matched those of Puccinia blasdalei, a rust now considered conspecific with P. allii.