A ProMED-mail post
ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases

May 15, 2003
From: Shabbir Rivzi <rizvis@doacs.state.fl.us>

In Florida, the common bread wheat/spring wheat, Triticum aestivum L., is typically planted in late fall (November to early December) and harvested in late spring (late April to May), predominantly in the panhandle counties of Florida. Wheat occupied approximately 10 000 acres in [the] 2003 growing season.

Unusually cool and wet spring weather has encouraged a scattered outbreak of stripe rust of wheat on susceptible varieties. The disease is caused by the foliar fungal pathogen Puccinia striiformis Westend. f.sp. tritici Eriksson (Pst). Pst was first noticed on experimental wheat lines planted by the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) spring wheat breeder at North Florida Research & Educational Center (NFREC) in Quincy, FL in early February 2003.

This is the first documented report of stripe rust of wheat in Florida, though other neighboring states have suffered occasional damage. The disease has never been reported in Florida, probably due to the warm and dry weather conditions that usually prevail during [the] wheat-growing season.

[Wheat stripe rust is present and is increasing throughout the southern U.S. By mid-April, stripe rust severity ratings of 20 percent were not uncommon in fields from northeastern Louisiana to central Georgia. However, the dry weather during the last 2 weeks of April slowed stripe rust development in many parts of the southern U.S. In test plots during late April, stripe rust severities were 20 percent in susceptible cultivars growing in central Mississippi and central Alabama, but considerably less in commercial production fields in the area.
For continuing coverage of the cereal rusts in the USA, go to the following web site:
<http://www.cdl.umn.edu/crb/crbupd.html>
I thank Shibbar Rivzi for contributing this piece. - Mod.DH]

ProMED-mail makes every effort to verify the reports that are posted, but the accuracy and completeness of the information, and of any statements or opinions based thereon, are not guaranteed. The reader assumes all risks in using information posted or archived by ProMED-mail. ISID and its associated service providers shall not be held responsible for errors or omissions or held liable for any damages incurred as a result of use or reliance upon posted or archived material.