Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici Assembly. Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici

Puccinia striiformis Westend. f. sp. tritici Eriks. is the causal agent of wheat stripe rust, causes serious disease in wheat in many cool and temperate regions of the world. China has the largest epidemic region in the world, and the disease has always been a major constraint for wheat production. The most destructive epidemics that occurred in 1950, 1964, 1990, and 2002 caused yield losses up to 6.0, 3.2, 1.8, and 1.3 million metric tons, respectively, in China, and seven nationwide cultivar replacements have taken place in China since the 1950s due to repeated appearances of new virulent races. Puccinia striiformis is an obligate biotrophic fungal pathogen, and has a complex life cycle that includes five spore stages and two very different hosts, recently it was found to be full lifecycle of rust with berberis spp. as alternate host in western mountainous area of China