Managing on-farm biosecurity risk through pre-emptive breeding: the case of rust

Rust is a significant yield constraint in the production of lentil and field pea in various regions of the world. Infection usually occurs at flowering, causing yield losses of 40 to 70%. The aim of this project is to provide the Australian lentil and field pea industries with tools to mount a rapid and effective response to any incursion of Uromyces viciae - fabae and U. pisi, two exotic plant pathogens causing rust. These pre-emptive measures include: 1. evaluation of current elite cultivars and breeding lines in key rust host-spots; 2. identification of novel sources of resistance and introgression of resistance loci into locally-adapted Australian elite germplasm; and 3. assessment of the pathogens' populations structure and virulence shifts. This will enhance breeding efforts through better gene deployment strategies. Identification of molecular markers linked to resistant loci will assist in the selection of resistant breeding lines in the absence of the pathogen.