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and leaf rust are among the most significant diseases affecting cereal crops, particularly wheat, in Western Canada. In British Columbia, these diseases are a concern for growers in the Peace River Region, where around 210,000 acres are dedicated to cereal production, generating over $60 million in sales annually. Demand for winter wheat is also increasing in the Lower Mainland, where the crop is used for forage and cover cropping, but is especially vulnerable to stripe rust due to the region’s milder climate. The Peace Region is similarly affected because of its cooler conditions.

While resistant wheat cultivars are commonly used, fungicides are often expensive and environmentally harmful but are still necessary for disease control. Compounding this issue is the emergence of new fungal races that can overcome existing resistance. These races often migrate into Canada from the United States via persistent wind currents, posing a continuous threat.

This research, along with previous work, analyzed hundreds of genome sequences from historic and current races of stripe and leaf rust pathogens. The resulting data provided a clear picture of pathogen populations in Canada and their relationship to those in the U.S. Researchers developed DNA-based diagnostic assays to rapidly identify specific rust lineages and their virulence genes. These tools are now being employed by Canadian diagnostic provider Sporometrics Inc.