Clues to rust resistance in rice

Clues to controlling the devastating wheat disease rust may be hidden in the only cereal crop that isn't affected by it - rice.

Dr Michael Ayliffe at CSIRO Plant Industry in Canberra is looking to determine if rice's immunity can be transferred to wheat.

Preliminary research by his team indicates that wheat rust can invade rice leaves, but is stopped before it causes the disease.

This type of resistance is called 'non-host resistance' and may be due to the physical structure of the plant, how the plant functions, its genes, or a combination of these factors.

The plant Arabidopsis has non-host resistance to another cereal disease - barley powdery mildew. Research shows that genetic control of this resistance may involve only three genes.

Evidence from one of Dr Ayliffe's trials shows that different rice cultivars allow different amounts of rust growth - supporting the idea there is a genetic basis to rice's rust resistance.

Dr Ayliffe and his team are hoping to identify genes that block rust disease in rice. Having the complete genome sequence of rice allows their experiments to move forward rapidly.

If rust resistance genes in rice are found there may be opportunities to transfer these genes to wheat and other cereals to provide them with long-lasting, effective resistance to rust.

MORE DETAILS