Wheat, barley, and oat rust differentials screening to natural rust pressure

Stripe rust, a fungal disease caused by the fungus Puccinia striiformis, is one of the most devastating diseases of wheat and barley worldwide, including western Canada. Stripe rust is a disease which is prevalent across the planet and can easily be spread via airborne transmission. In recent years, stripe rust has become an increasingly greater threat to western Canada due to newer virulent strains. The Pacific Northwest (PNW) of the USA is hotspot of stripe rust disease in North America, and the province of British Columbia being closer to the PNW is expected to have natural pathogen inoculum coming northward with wind trajectories. Purpose of the research was to collect wheat and barley stripe rust and oat crown rust severity data from natural disease pressure of these rust pathogens. For that, we planted wheat, barley, and oat genotypes carrying known rust resistance genes. We rated our plants for severity of the disease on flag and penultimate leaves in Early August.