Molecular Characterization of Australian Isolates of <i>Puccinia graminis</i> f. sp. <i>tritici</i> Supports Long-Term Clonality but also Reveals Cryptic Genetic Variation
Journal: Phytopathology
Year: 2017

Long-term surveys of pathogenicity in Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici in Australia have implicated mutation as a major source of virulence, at times leading to the demise of stem-rust-resistant wheat cultivars and substantial yield losses. Since 1925, these surveys have identified at least four occasions on which exotic isolates of P. graminis f. sp. tritici appeared in Australia, with each acting as a founding isolate that gave rise sequentially to derivative pathotypes via presumed single-ste