Wheat leaf rust

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? Wheat leaf rust
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota Kingdom: Fungi Phylum: Basidiomycota Class: Urediniomycetes Order: Uredinales Family: Pucciniaceae Genus: Puccinia Species: P. triticinia
Binomial name
Puccinia triticinia Erikss.

Wheat leaf rust is a serious fungal disease affecting wheat caused by the fungi Puccinia triticinia. It is the most prevalent of all the wheat rust dieases, occuring in nearly all areas where wheat is grown. It has caused serious epidemics in North America, Mexico and South America.

It is most destructive on winter wheat, probably because this allows the pathogen to overwinter. Infections can lead to a 1-20% yield loss due to the fact that infected leaves die earlier and all the nutrients are directed to the growing fungi. Infection can also cause grain to shrivel.

The pathogen has an asexual and sexual cycle. In North America, South America and Australia the pathogen only undergoes it's asexual cycle. However this does not seem to be a disadvantage to it, and wheat lead rust has many races with different virulence. The sexual lifecycle of wheat leaf rust requires a different host species, Thalictrumn spp.

Wheat Stem Rust spreads via air bourne spores. The germination process requires moisture, and works best at 100% humidity. Optimum temperature for germination is between 15-20 C. Before sporulation, wheat plants appear completly asymptomatic. This is because rust pathogens are biotrophic and require living plant cells to survive.