Additional physiological races of coffee leaf rust (Hemileia vastatrix) identified in Kenya

Abstract

Coffee leaf rust (CLR), caused by the fungus Hemileia vastatrix, is among the most important diseases affecting coffee all over the world. In Kenya, it is currently the second most important disease, and breeding coffee to obtain new resistant cultivars has been a priority. Over time, new rust pathogenic races able to infect hitherto resistant coffee genotypes have been registered. To date, 49 races of the pathogen have been characterized all over the world. The most recent races to be characterized are able to infect derivatives of Timor Hybrid (HDT), which is a major source of resistance in breeding programs. This work aimed to identify new races of the pathogen in Kenya, emphasizing infected leaves sampled from CLR resistant varieties and breeding lines collected from two sites (Ruiru and Koru). Twenty-four samples were characterized, out of which 22 samples corresponded to new races of the pathogen. A total of six new races (III, XVII, XXIII, XXXVI, XLI and XLII) were characterized, revealing three new virulence genes (v1, v7, v8) and possibly a fourth virulence gene, the v9. This finding represents a serious threat to coffee production and also a challenge to coffee breeding programs that are in progress in Kenya.