Physiologic Specialization of Puccinia triticina on Wheat in the United States in 2000

Collections of Puccinia triticina were obtained from rust infected wheat leaves by cooperators throughout the United States and from surveys of wheat fields and nurseries in the Great Plains, Ohio Valley, Gulf Coast, and Atlantic Coast States in order to determine the virulence of the wheat leaf rust fungus in 2000. Single uredinial isolates (1,120 in total) were derived from the wheat leaf rust collections and tested for virulence phenotype on 16 lines of Thatcher wheat that are near-isogenic for leaf rust resistance genes. In the United States in 2000, 54 virulence phenotypes of P. triticina were found. Virulence phenotypes MBDS and MCDS, which are virulent to resistance gene Lr17, were the first and third most common phenotypes in the United States and were found in the Great Plains and the Ohio Valley regions. MCRK, which is virulent to Lr26, was the second most common phenotype and was found primarily in the Southeast, Ohio Valley, and Northeast regions. In the northern area of the Great Plains, phenotypes with virulence to Lr16 increased in frequency from 1998 and 1999. The Southeast and Great Plains regions had different predominant virulence phenotypes, which indicates that populations of P. triticina in those areas are not closely connected. The northern and southern areas of the Great Plains region had the same predominant virulence phenotypes, indicating movement of virulence phenotypes of P. triticina within this region.