Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Pullman, Washington » WHGQ » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #312284
Title: Barberry as alternate host is important for Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici, but not for Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici in the U.S. Pacific Northwest

Author
item WANG, MEINAN - Washington State University
item WAN, ANMIN - Washington State University
item Chen, Xianming

Submitted to: Plant Disease
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/2/2015
Publication Date: 11/6/2015
Citation: Wang, M., Wan, A., Chen, X. 2015. Barberry as alternate host is important for Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici, but not for Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Plant Disease. 99(11):1507-1516.

Interpretive Summary: Common barberry has been known to serve as an alternate host for the wheat stem rust pathogen under natural conditions in the U. S. Pacific Northwest for a long time. The plant has been recently shown to be infected by basidiospores of the wheat stripe rust pathogen under controlled conditions. However, it was not clear if barberry plays any role in stripe rust epidemics under natural conditions. In this study, aecial samples collected from barberry plants in the Pacific Northwest from 2010 to 2013 were characterized by inoculation on wheat plants under controlled conditions and using molecular markers and sequences of the internal transcribed spacer region of nuclear ribosomal DNA. All tests clearly showed that the aecia were either the wheat stem rust fungus or other forms of the stem rust fungal species, but failed to show the stripe rust fungus. The results of this study strongly imply that barberry is essential for stem rust epidemics, but does not play any role in stripe rust under the natural conditions in the Palouse region of the U. S. Pacific Northwest. The study provides biological basis for using different strategies to control stem rust and stripe rust.

Technical Abstract: Common barberry (Berberis vulgaris) has been known to serve as an alternate host for the wheat stem rust pathogen, Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici (Pgt), under natural conditions in the U. S. Pacific Northwest for a long time. The plant has been recently shown to be infected by basidiospores of the wheat stripe rust pathogen, Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), under controlled conditions. However, it was not clear if barberry plays any role in stripe rust epidemics under natural conditions. In this study, aecial samples collected from barberry plants in the Pacific Northwest from 2010 to 2013 were characterized by inoculation on wheat plants under controlled conditions and using molecular markers and sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of nuclear ribosomal DNA. All tests clearly showed that the aecia were either Pgt or other formae speciales of P. graminis, but failed to show P. striiformis. The results of this study strongly imply that barberry is essential for stem rust epidemics, but does not play any role in stripe rust under the natural conditions in the Palouse region of the U. S. Pacific Northwest.