2011 BGRI Technical Workshop Dave Hodson, FAO Putting Ug99 on the map: An update on current and future monitoring

1. Putting Ug99 on the map: An update on
current and future monitoring
D.P. Hodson, K. Nazari, R.F. Park, J. Hansen, P.
Lassen, J. Arista, T. Fetch, M. Hovmøller, Y Jin, Z.A.
Pretorius and K. Sonder

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W s
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10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
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Context: Wheat is Important!
• 200+ Million ha
• World’s most widely
2
• 600+ Million tons / yr

3. Ug99 – A call to action
●1998: Anomalous results from
a nursery in Uganda
● 1999:Confirmation of loss of
important Sr genes (Sr31, Sr38
+++) “Ug99” [TTKSK]
● 2005: “Sounding the Alarm on
Global Stem Rust”. Formation of
the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative
● ?’s – Susceptibility? Where next? How soon?....
● Clear need for effective monitoring & surveillance

4. 2005: What did we know?

5. 2005: What did we know?
• Very little!
• Sr31 virulent stem
rust at 10-15 research
stations in East Africa

6. Ug99 Tracking: History
• 2005: CIMMYT
– First use of GIS: Ug99
– Part of successful
fundraising
– RustMapper – Google
Earth Application Singh et al. 2006
• 2009: DRRW – FAO
– Rust SPORE web portal
• 2011: CIMMYT

7. International Rust Monitoring: Stem Rust Model
Country Reports
RustSPORE
Web portal
To Country
RustMapper
Full GIS
Spatial Database
Winds
Secondary Data
•Relies on national Climate, crops etc
surveillance
•Standard survey
protocols Field survey
•Added value + Trap Nurseries /
•Global Overview Samples plots

8. Continued Expansion of Surveillance Network
 Rapidly increasing
flow of field data
 Improved knowledge
on annual incidence &
severity
 Multi-year data: Now
starting to detect
potential changes
2009 2010
2005
c. 10 stations
reporting Ug99

9. THE SPREAD OF WHEAT STEM RUST UG99 LINEAGE
2007
2009
2006
2003
2001
1998/9
Movements
Possible
Spread
? ?
2009 FAO, Aug 2010

10. Stem Rust Surveys 2010

11. Stem Rust Surveys 2010

12. Stem Rust Surveys 2010
Eritrea: 2009 Eritrea: 2010
 Clear change (Environment, timing, cultivars, pathogen?)
 2010 first detection of Ug99 Sr24 variants
 NARI, Eritrea (A. Wolday) + AAFC, Winnipeg, Canada (T. Fetch)
 Wolday et al in prep

13. Stem Rust Surveys 2010
 Clear change (Environment, timing, cultivars, pathogen?)
 2010 first detection of Ug99 variants (including Sr24 variants)
 DRSS, Zimbabwe (F. Mukoyi, B. Mutari), SeedCo (T. Soko) + University of
the Free State, South Africa (Z. Pretorius, L. Herselman, B. Visser)
 Mukoyi et al. Plant Disease 2011
Zimbabwe: 2009 Zimbabwe: 2010

14. Pathogen Monitoring: Ug99 Lineage
 Variants detected &
tracked
 Expansion in range (&
number of variants)
– 7 variants
– virulence Sr31+Sr24
increasingly detected
 Progress: Global summary,
increasing national
capacity
 Constraints: Year-round
analysis, sample viability
 Addition of Global Rust
Reference Centre,
Denmark – expands Data sources: AAFC, Canada; Uni Free State, South
international pathotyping Africa; USDA-ARS Cereals Disease Lab, USA
network

15. Ug99 Sr24 Variants (PTKST, TTKST)
• An important Sr gene
• Ug99 Sr24 variants being
widely detected
• Now predominant
pathotypes in several
countries
• Movement out of Africa
inevitable

16. Emerging Concerns
Jan-Mar 2011 1. South Asia:
• Jan-Mar 2011: Consistent air-
flows from Yemen + Eritrea
• Stem rust (Ug99?) at source in
Yemen, Feb 2011
• High severity of stem rust
Eritrea, Oct. 2010
• Highly susceptible hosts in
South Asia (PBW343: 6M ha;
2. Australia: Inqualab-91: 4M ha)
• Oct-Nov 2010: Consistent air-
flows from South Africa
• Confirmed Ug99 (race PTKST:
Sr31+Sr24 vir.) at source
• Abnormal rainfall in Australia
• Susceptible hosts in Australia Oct-Nov 2010

18. Data Management: Wheat Rust Toolbox
NB: Generic - Applicable to all rusts Outputs:
• Survey Mapping
On-line Data Entry
• Pathotypes, +...
Quality
control/publish
User Data Export /
Management Exchange
Crop Problem Dbase External Applications
(survey, pathotypes, [Trap nursery, Molecular] ) e.g., RustMapper

19. Delivering Information: Rust SPORE
• Dedicated web portal: Rust SPORE
• http://www.fao.org/agriculture/crops/rust/stem/en/
– Updates
– Tracking
– Country Surveys
– Pathotypes
• 3 UN languages (English, Arabic, Russian)
• Centralized Dbase (Aarhus), embedded applications
(Aarhus + CIMMYT)
• Target: Scientists, Decision-makers, Public Awareness

20. Surveillance: Future Innovations
• Smart Phone field data collection (e.g.,
Epicollect model)
• SMS farmer/extension networks
– Rapid disease detection
– Farmer control / mitigation advice
• Remote Sensing Aanensen et al., 2009. PlosOne
– Damage assessment
• Molecular Diagnostics
– Mid-term: Rapid, in-season
pathotype group (Ug99 lineage)
detection
– Long-term: pathotype detection?
• Disease prediction models
USDA-FAS. Commodity Intelligence Report, June 2010

21. Challenges
• Surveys
– Political instability, insecurity
– Resources (human + financial)
– Information flows
• Sampling
– Restrictions on sample movement – dead or alive [Dead DNA
samples Yemen-USA, 7 months!]
– Sample viability
– Pathotyping capacity (International + national)
• Strengthened linkages to breeding, seed + control systems
• Accidental human-borne transfer
– Need for sustained monitoring in “low-risk” areas
• Other rusts!

22. Stripe Rust Severity:2010 Surveys
• The most damaging wheat rust on
the global scale
• 2 New highly aggressive strains +
rapid global spread
• Breakdown of a key resistance gene
(Yr27) in CWANA
– Mega cultivars withYr27 are
currently planted on more than
15 million hectares (North
Africa to South Asia)
• 2010: Major outbreaks: Syria,
Ethiopia, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan,
Azerbaijan (up to 40% losses)

23. Conclusion
• Increased global awareness on vulnerability of wheat
crop (rusts in general)
• Monitoring system in place (Ug99) – current status +
monitoring pathogen populations
• Information systems / tools in place and being
developed
• Functional international networks emerging,
increased national capacity for surveillance and
monitoring
• Current systems need to be sustained and expanded
to address current and future rust threats

24. Acknowledgements
• All contributing national partners
• PBI, University of Sydney
• ICARDA
• CIMMYT
• AAFC, Canada
• CDL, Minnesota, USA
• University of the Free State, South Africa
• Aarhus University, Denmark
• BGRI / Cornell University
• Donors: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, DFID, USAID, IFAD