Abstract
The main growing regions for winter wheat in the Russian Federation are the North Caucasian, Central Black Earth, and Central agroecological regions. Spring wheat crops dominate in the Urals, Volga region, and Western Siberia. Wheat leaf rust, caused by Puccinia triticina, is an important disease, impacting greatly on wheat production. In Russia, the disease was an annual problem until 2010 but has since been more effectively controlled. However, changes in virulence in pathogen populations may arise from climate change, evolving cropping practices, intense use of chemical protectants, and an increase in the release of resistant cultivars. In the 2000s, the State Register of the Russian Federation included an increase in the number of winter and spring wheat cultivars resistant to leaf rust. However, successful genetic protection requires a diversity of cultivars with different resistance genes (Lr genes). Studies by the All Russian Institute of Plant Protection identified Lr genes in Russian cultivars’ phenotypes and molecular markers. In addition, the prevalence of virulence in pathogen populations was studied and the influence of the cultivar used in wheat production on the changes in these populations was evaluated. This paper reviews research on the genetic diversity of winter and spring wheat cultivars included in the State Register of Russia from 2000 to 2020 and analyzes their impact on the prevalence of virulence in pathogen populations. These data demonstrate the continuous evolution of P. triticina in response to wheat breeding efforts. Populations of the pathogen showed higher variability in regions where pathotype-specific resistance cultivars were commonly grown.
Highlights
Wheat leaf rust, caused by Puccinia triticina, is an important disease that affects production in many agroecological regions of the Russian Federation
Prior to the 2000s, two to three times per decade, damaging epidemics would occur in the North Caucasian region, resulting in yield losses of 30–35%
The objective of this paper is to review these studies and provide an overview of the current status of wheat leaf rust resistance in Russia
Summary
Wheat leaf rust, caused by Puccinia triticina, is an important disease that affects production in many agroecological regions of the Russian Federation. Similar yield losses from leaf rust were even more frequent in the Central and Volga regions, occurring five to seven times per decade. A decrease in the importance of P. triticina in 2000 was noted in other countries, including those neighboring Russia (Kazakhstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, etc.) [4,5]. These shifts in pathogen and disease prevalence created new challenges, especially as regards climate change, evolving cropping practices, intense use of chemical protectants, and an increase in the release of resistant cultivars
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