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ARS Home » Midwest Area » St. Paul, Minnesota » Cereal Disease Lab » Research » Research Project #435974

Research Project: Resistance of Barberry Cultivars to the Wheat Stem Rust Fungus (FY19)

Location: Cereal Disease Lab

Project Number: 5062-21220-023-019-I
Project Type: Interagency Reimbursable Agreement

Start Date: Oct 1, 2018
End Date: Sep 30, 2019

Objective:
Determine resistance of barberry species and cultivars to Puccinia graminis. Develop improved methods of inducing germination of P. graminis teliospores and inoculating barberry plants.

Approach:
Evaluate cultivars for symptoms of rust infection 1-2 weeks after inoculation and certify new cultivars as resistant if they show no symptoms of rust infection. Identify possible hybrid barberry cultivars based on plant morphology, grow seedlings from seed of suspected hybrid plants, and test them for segregation of resistance and susceptibility to P. graminis. Test storage procedures for over-wintered teliospores and effects of temperature and moisture treatments for inducing teliospore germination of improved rates of infectious basidiospores for barberry inoculations. Conduct 3 field surveys (Midwest, Northern Great Plains, Pacific Northwest) for grass or cereal plants bearing teliospores of Puccinia graminis whose dormancy has been broken by weathering through the winter (exposed teliospores release basidiospores and infect susceptible barberry plants).