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Global Landscape of Rust Epidemics by Puccinia Species: Current and Future Perspectives

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Plant Relationships

Part of the book series: The Mycota ((MYCOTA,volume 5))

Abstract

Rust fungi include many significant crop pathogens that belong to the Puccinia genus (order Pucciniales, phylum Basidiomycota). Historically, Puccinia species have posed a threat to members of the Poaceae plant family; however, recent outbreaks have raised awareness of their destructive nature. This chapter focuses on Puccinia species that have caused epidemics affecting crops that account for half of the global food production. Advances in high-throughput sequencing technology and computational approaches have increased our understanding of virulence evolution in rust fungi and the molecular factors behind disease epidemics. Pioneering research has revealed the first few avirulence (Avr) genes from Puccinia species, and novel mechanisms behind the diversification of pathogen populations, which enable the coevolutionary arms race between Puccinia members and their hosts. The majority of Avr genes in Puccinia species remain to be identified and additional research is required to develop a broad picture of the mechanisms these pathogens use for host manipulation. These topics are likely to remain a strong focus for future research; however, the development of high-quality genomic resources is imperative.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Profs. Brian J Steffenson (University of Minnesota) and Shahryar Kianian (USDA-ARS Cereal Disease Laboratory) for useful discussions, and Prof. Junmin Liang (Chinese Academy of Science) for sharing unpublished results. Research by the authors in rust fungi is supported by the Grains Research Development Corporation (GRDC), the 2Blades Foundation, The Gatsby Foundation, USDA-NIFA and strategic investments of CSIRO.

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Correspondence to Melania Figueroa .

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Figueroa, M., Dodds, P.N., Henningsen, E.C., Sperschneider, J. (2023). Global Landscape of Rust Epidemics by Puccinia Species: Current and Future Perspectives. In: Scott, B., Mesarich, C. (eds) Plant Relationships. The Mycota, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16503-0_17

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