Canadian spring wheat cultivars lack all-stage resistance (ASR) to stripe rust

Wheat stripe rust is one of the five priority-one diseases in western Canada. The resistance to rusts in wheat can be all-stage (ASR) or adult-plant resistance (APR), depending on the growth stage of the plant. In this study, 179 spring wheat cultivars and advanced breeding lines were screened for stripe rust, none showed any ASR. A small proportion of wheat genotypes showed some level of ASR to 1-3 of the five stripe rust isolates. The study concludes that Canadian spring wheat germplasm in the breeding programs lack ASR to stripe rust and any existing resistance is conferred by APR genes.