Virulence and molecular genetic diversity of the Puccinia triticina population in Hebei Province of China in 2008 and 2010

Abstract

Wheat leaf rust, caused by Puccinia triticina, is a commonly occurring disease in wheat growing areas of the world. Research on the virulence and genetic diversity of P. triticina will be helpful for a better understanding of the evolution tendencies and subsequently for controlling this disease. In this study, 59 isolates of P. triticina collected from Hebei Province of China in 2008 and 2010 were analyzed for virulence diversity based on 37 near-isogenic Thatcher wheat lines at seedling stage, and genetic diversity using 21 pairs of EST-SSR primers. The predominant virulence phenotypes were PHTT, THTT, and THJT in 2008, while THTS, THSS, THTT, and THST were most common in Hebei province in 2010. Clustering analysis based on the virulence and EST-SSR data revealed a high diversity of P. triticina, and differences between the populations of 2008 and 2010. There was no significant correlation between the molecular and virulence data. Genetic parameters analysis also showed high diversity of the P. triticina population in Hebei province. Nei’s gene diversity index (H) and Shannon’s information index (I) showed that the genetic diversity of population 2008 was higher than 2010. The AMOVA analysis suggested that genetic variation mainly from intra-population (61.11%).