WHEAT STRIPE RUST AND INTEGRATION OF SUSTAINABLE CONTROL STRATEGIES IN CHINA

Abstract

<List> <ListItem><ItemContent> • Stripe rust caused substantial yield losses in China. </ItemContent></ListItem> <ListItem><ItemContent> • <i>P. striiformis</i> is highly variable and the change from avirulence to virulence. </ItemContent></ListItem> <ListItem><ItemContent> • Different comprehensive control strategies were adopted in different epidemic region. </ItemContent></ListItem></List> Stripe (yellow) rust caused by <i>Puccinia striiformis</i> f. sp. <i>tritici</i> occurs in almost all wheat-producing regions of the world. Severe countrywide epidemics in China have caused substantial yield losses. Growing resistant cultivars is the best strategy to control this disease but the pathogen can overcome resistance in wheat cultivars. The high variation in the virulence of the pathogen combined with the large areas of susceptible wheat cultivars enables the pathogen population to increase rapidly and disperse over long distances under favorable environmental conditions, resulting in severe pandemics within cropping seasons. Current stripe rust control measures are based on many years of research including the underlying epidemiology regarding year-to-year survival of the pathogen, pathways of pathogen dispersal within seasons and years, the role of <i>P. striiformis</i> sexual hybridization, the use of resistance sources in breeding programs, and year-round surveillance of national wheat crops that are present in different parts of the country throughout the year. All these strategies depend on accurate prediction of epidemics, more precise use of fungicides to meet national requirements and better deployment of resistance genes. New ideas with potential application in sustainable protection of stripe rust include negative regulatory gene editing, resistance gene overexpression and biological control based on microbiomes.