Identification of the races of yellow rust causal agent Puccinia striiformis and evaluation of wheat varieties resistance against yellow rust in the laboratory conditions Project leader Biruta Bankina Team of project Biruta Bankina Līga Zemeca Duration 2019 - 2021 Research focus 1. Implementation of the "One Health" concept and species interaction studies in the context of climate change Source of funding Internal grant Description of project The aim of research To identify the races of Puccinia striiformis found in Latvia and to evaluate the resistance of wheat varieties grown in Latvia to Puccinia striiformis under laboratory conditions. The tasks of project: To identify the races of Puccinia striiformis by phenotyping methodTo identify the races of Puccinia striiformis by genotyping methodTo evaluate the resistance of wheat varieties grown in Latvia to Puccinia striiformis Results During the research it was found that five isolates identified by phenotyping method correspond to Warrior-, two isolates to Warrior race. Affiliation was not determined for four isolates, the infected differentials showed different characteristics than the previously known races of P. striiformis. In greenhouse, artificial inoculation of wheat seedlings was carried out with five isolates of P. striiformis, representing three races found in Latvia. Evaluating visual symptoms, it was concluded that the wheat varieties 'Brencis', 'Ceylon', 'Fredis', 'Edvins', 'Magnifik', 'Olivin', 'Reinis', 'Skagen', 'Talsis' and 'Zeppelin' in the juvenile development period are susceptible to P. striiformis races Warrior and Warrior-, partially susceptible to Triticale 2015. The identification of rusts on barberry, mahonia and wheat was carried out by molecular methods during the research. In total, 59 samples of barberry, 2 mahogany and 11 wheat plant parts with signs of rust were analyzed. 107 samples were obtained and sequenced from plant parts. Compared to the sequences available in the NCBI database, Puccinia graminis was mainly determined. The causative agent of wheat yellow rust, P. striiformis, was not detected on barberry in the 2020 and 2021 seasons, but genetically related species were found: Puccinia sp. AB-2012, strain 633 was identified (for 10 samples) and Puccinia AB-2012 strain 704 (for 5 samples), which in the databases had the closest similarity with P. striiformis f. sp. tritici.
