Successes in Breeding for and Managing Durable Resistance to Wheat Rusts. Roland F. Line and Xianming Chen, USDA-ARS, Washington State University, Pullman 99164-6430. PLANT DIS. 79:1254. Accepted for publication 10 September 1995. This article is in the public domain and may not be copyrighted. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-79-1254.

Stripe rust, leaf rust, and stem rust- caused by Puccinia striiforrnis Westend., Puccinia recondita Roberge ex Desmaz., and Puccinia graminis Pers., respectively have been considered to be the most widely destructive diseases of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in the world. Rust epidemics have been common throughout history and have frequently caused severe yield losses. During the first half of the twentieth century, rust resistance was short-lived. Within a few years after the release of a new resistant cultivar, new, virulent races (pathotypes) of the rust pathogens would appear and severely damage the previously resistant cultivar.