Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Pullman, Washington » WHGQ » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #383457
Research Project: Improving Control of Stripe Rusts of Wheat and Barley through Characterization of Pathogen Populations and Enhancement of Host Resistance

Location: Wheat Health, Genetics, and Quality Research

Title: Virulence characterization of Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici collections from six countries in 2013 to 2020

Author
item Chen, Xianming
item WANG, MEINAN - Washington State University
item WAN, ANMIN - Washington State University
item BAI, QING - Washington State University
item LI, MINGJU - Washington State University
item LOPEZ, PEDRO - Washington State University
item MACCAFERRI, MARCO - University Of Bologna, Italy
item MASTRANGELO, ANNA MARIA - Crea-Research Centre For Cereal And Industrial Crops
item BARNES, CHARLES - National Institute For Agricultural Research (INIAP)
item CAMPAN, DIEGO - National Institute For Agricultural Research (INIAP)
item TENUTA, ALBERT - Ministry Of Agriculture - Canada
item ABDELRHIM, ABDELRAZEK - Minia University

Submitted to: Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/16/2021
Publication Date: 7/20/2021
Citation: Chen, X., Wang, M., Wan, A., Bai, Q., Li, M., Lopez, P.F., Maccaferri, M., Mastrangelo, A., Barnes, C.W., Campan, D., Tenuta, A., Abdelrhim, A. 2021. Virulence characterization of Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici collections from six countries in 2013 to 2020. Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology. https://doi.org/10.1080/07060661.2021.1958259.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07060661.2021.1958259

Interpretive Summary: Wheat stripe rust, also called yellow rust (Yr) is one of the most important diseases worldwide. Characterization of virulences in the pathogen populations is essential for developing wheat cultivars with effective and durable resistance to control the disease. A total of 138 races, including 120 races that were not previously reported, were identified from stripe rust collections of Canada, China, Ecuador, Egypt, Italy and Mexico from 2013-2020 using the set of 18 Yr single-gene differentials. Virulences to resistance genes Yr5 and Yr15 were not found in any of the countries, indicating their effectiveness against the pathogen populations. Virulences to 16 Yr genes were detected, but most of them had significant variation in frequencies among the six countries. On average, the frequencies of virulences to Yr6, Yr7, Yr9, Yr43, Yr44 and YrExp2 were high (81.7-90.6%), those to Yr1, Yr8, Yr17, Yr27, YrSP and Yr76 were moderate (34.0-56.8%), and those to Yr10, Yr24, Yr32 and YrTr1 were low or very low (0.4-18.5%). The same races detected in different countries and different races from different countries clustered into same virulence groups indicated pathogen migration and exchange among different countries, especially between eastern Asia and the Mediterranean region. These results should be useful for breeding wheat cultivars with effective resistance to stripe rust in these countries as well as in a global scale.

Technical Abstract: Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst) causes wheat stripe rust (also called yellow rust, Yr), one of the most important diseases worldwide. Characterization of virulences in Pst populations is essential for developing wheat cultivars with effective and durable resistance to control the disease. A total of 138 Pst races, including 120 races that were not previously reported, were identified from stripe rust collections of Canada, China, Ecuador, Egypt, Italy and Mexico from 2013-2020 using the set of 18 Yr single-gene differentials. Virulences to resistance genes Yr5 and Yr15 were not found in any of the countries, indicating their effectiveness against the Pst populations. Virulences to 16 Yr genes were detected, but most of them had significant variation in frequencies among the six countries. On average, the frequencies of virulences to Yr6, Yr7, Yr9, Yr43, Yr44 and YrExp2 were high (81.7-90.6%), those to Yr1, Yr8, Yr17, Yr27, YrSP and Yr76 were moderate (34.0-56.8%), and those to Yr10, Yr24, Yr32 and YrTr1 were low or very low (0.4-18.5%). The same races detected in different countries and different races from different countries clustered into same virulence groups indicated Pst migration and exchange among different countries, especially between eastern Asia and the Mediterranean region. These results should be useful for breeding wheat cultivars with effective resistance to stripe rust in these countries as well as in a global scale.