Plant disease discovery could solve rusty problem

In a world first, the gene that is the 'Achilles heel' of rust, a common disease of plants, has been found, potentially saving millions in plant breeding and averting losses in food production. 

"The rust gene we identified - the 'avirulence' gene - effectively labels the rust as an intruder so the plant can detect the rust and turn on its defence mechanisms to prevent a rust infection," says Dr Peter Dodds, CSIRO Plant Industry.

Rusts damage many plants in Australia's agricultural and horticultural industries, including wheat and grapevines.

"You can breed rust resistant plants, but this resistance only works when the rust contains the avirulence gene," says Dr Dodds.

Rusts are continually evolving into new rust strains with changes to their avirulence gene to evade the plant's defences.

Scientists are continually on the look out for new rust resistance to breed into plants - but their options are diminishing.

The CSIRO Plant Industry team now hopes to determine what other functions the avirulence gene has in rust and how the plant recognises it. 

"This could help us identify rust resistance genes that are more versatile, more effective and last longer," says Dr Dodds. 

"We may even be able to develop new rust resistance genes that are triggered by other genes that the rust cannot change easily - providing a permanent solution to rust control."

This project is supported by the Grains Research and Development Corporation.

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