Despite extensive breeding efforts, no pepper (Capsicum annuum L. var. annuum) cultivars with universal resistance to phytophthora root rot and foliar blight (Phytophthora capsici Leon) have been commercially released. A reason for this limitation may be that physiological races exist within P. capsici, the causal agent of phytophthora root rot and phytophthora foliar blight. Physiological races are classified by the pathogen's reactions to a set of cultivars (host differential). In this study, 18 varieties of peppers were inoculated with 10 isolates of P. capsici for phytophthora root rot, and four isolates of P. capsici for phytophthora foliar blight. The isolates originated from pepper plants growing in New Mexico, New Jersey, Italy, Korea, and Turkey. For phytophthora root rot, nine of the 10 isolates were identified as different physiological races. The four isolates used in the phytophthora foliar blight study were all determined to be different races. The identification of physiological races within P. capsici has significant implication in breeding for phytophthora root rot and phytophthora foliar blight resistance.

Leaf rust, caused by Puccinia triticina Eriks., is the most common disease of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in the United States and worldwide. The objective of this study was to characterize seedling and adult plant leaf rust resistance in hard red spring wheat cultivars grown in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota, and postulate the identity of the seedling leaf rust resistance genes in the cultivars. Twenty-six cultivars, near-isogenic lines of Thatcher wheat that differ for single leaf rust resistance genes, and three wheat cultivars with known leaf rust resistance genes, were tested with 11 different isolates of leaf rust collected from the United States and Canada. The leaf rust infection types produced on seedling plants of the cultivars in greenhouse tests were compared with the infection types produced by the same isolates on the Thatcher near-isogenic lines to postulate which seedling leaf rust resistance genes were present. Seedling leaf rust resistance genes Lr1, Lr2a, Lr10, Lr16, Lr21, and Lr24 were postulated to be present in spring wheat cultivars. Seedling genes Lr3, Lr14a, and Lr23 likely were present in some cultivars but could not be clearly identified in this study. Most of the cultivars had some level of adult plant leaf rust resistance, most likely due to Lr34. Cultivars that had seedling resistance genes Lr1, Lr2a, Lr10, or Lr16 had poor to intermediate levels of leaf rust resistance in field plots. Cultivars with combinations of seedling resistance genes Lr16 and Lr24 with additional adult plant resistance were highly resistant to leaf rust.