Stripe (yellow) rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici, is a serious disease of wheat in the world. The obligate biotrophic fungal pathogen changes its virulence rapidly, which can circumvent resistance in wheat cultivars and cause severe epidemics. Because P. striiformis f. sp. tritici races have been identified in the United States using different wheat genotypes in different time periods, it is difficult to make direct comparisons of the current population with historical populations. The objective of this study was to characterize historical populations with 18 Yr single-gene lines that are currently used to differentiate P. striiformis f. sp. tritici races in order to understand virulence and race changes of the pathogen over 40 years in the United States. From 908 P. striiformis f. sp. tritici isolates collected from 1968 to 2009 in the United States, 171 races were identified and their frequencies were determined. More races, more new races, and races with more virulence genes were detected since the year 2000 than prior to 2000. None of the races were virulent to Yr5 and Yr15, indicating that these genes have been effective since the late 1960s. Virulence genes to the remaining 16 Yr genes were detected in different periods, and most of them increased in frequency over time. Some virulence genes such as those to Yr17, Yr27, Yr32, Yr43, Yr44, YrTr1, and YrExp2 appeared 14 to 37 years earlier than previously reported, indicating the greater value of using Yr single-gene lines as differentials. Positive and negative associations were detected between virulence genes. The continual information on virulence and races in the P. striiformis f. sp. tritici populations is useful for understanding the evolution of the pathogen and for breeding wheat cultivars with effective resistance to stripe rust.

Stripe rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), is a devastating disease of wheat in the United States. The fungal pathogen can rapidly evolve, producing new virulent races infecting previously resistant cultivars and genotypes adapting to different environments. The objective of this study was to investigate the long-term population dynamics of Pst in the US. Through genotyping 1,083 isolates of 1968 to 2009 using 14 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers and 92 secreted protein single nucleotide polymorphism (SP-SNP) markers, 614 and 945 genotypes were detected, respectively. In general, the two types of markers produced consistent genetic relationships among the Pst populations over the 40 years. The prior 2000 and 2000-2009 populations were significantly different, and the latter showed higher genotypic diversity and higher heterozygosity than the former populations. Clustering analyses using genotypes of either SSR and SP-SNP markers revealed three molecular groups (MGs), of which MG1 and MG2 existed in both the prior 2000 and 2000-2009 populations while MG3 mainly emerged in 2000 to 2009. Some of the isolates in the period of 2000-2009 formed individual clusters, suggesting exotic incursions; whereas other isolates of the same period were clustered together with prior-2000 isolates, indicating that they were developed from the previously established populations. The data suggest the co-existence of newly introduced populations with established populations in the United States. Twenty SP-SNP markers were significantly associated to individual avirulence genes. The results are useful for developing more accurate monitoring systems and provides guidance for the disease management.

Triazene is one of the most versatile building blocks in syntheiss. Generally, it is viewed as a safety equivalent of diazonium salt, thus immediately finds numerous applications in preparative chemistry...