Cereal rust research
Protecting cereal crops through cutting-edge rust disease research since 1921
The University of Sydney’s Rust Laboratory seeks genetic solutions to control rust pathogens – among the most damaging pathogens of plants. Our goal is to deliver world class genetic protection from the cereal rust diseases to Australian winter cereal crops.
Our work seeks to find genetic solutions to rust control in important plant species. For over a century, we have monitored cereal rust pathogens across Australia and have conducted fundamental world-class research to discover and characterise new sources of rust resistance in cereals and investigate the molecular basis of plant resistance to rust fungi. The Australian cereal rust control program (ACRCP) led by our lab has made significant contributions in understanding pathogen virulence, epidemiology, and new variant detection. We also maintained one of the world’s largest and best-characterised collections of rust pathotypes identified over last 100 years.
We partner with Australian cereal breeding groups to incorporate durable rust resistance in new cultivars and foster stewardship of rust resistance genes by raising awareness of the importance of rust diseases in Australian cereal production and ensuring an ongoing skill-base in genetic control of these diseases.
Professor Robert Park and Dr Mumta Chhetri
Rust diseases caused by pathogenic fungi pose a major biosecurity threat due to their ability to spread rapidly over long distances via wind-dispersed spores. Genetic resistance is key to managing these diseases, requiring ongoing monitoring of rust strains (pathotypes) and their effects on cereal crops.
Since 1921, the University of Sydney has led national surveys to identify rust pathotypes in wheat, barley, and oats by testing infected rust samples on cereal seedlings with different resistance genes. This process typically takes 2–3 weeks. Advances in DNA sequencing are now enabling faster, more efficient diagnostics to complement traditional methods.
These surveys support breeding efforts and inform post-release management of cereal varieties by providing vital rust pathotype distribution data.
Associate Professor Peng Zhang (Molecular Genetics and Cytogenetics, Host-pathogen Interactions); Dr Laura Ziems (Statistical Genetics); Dr Davinder Singh (Wheat and Barley Rust Genetics and Gene Deployment); Mr Jeremy Roake (Oat and Triticale Rust Genetics and Gene Deployment); Dr Yi Ding (Host-pathogen Interactions, Pathogenomics)
Using genetically diverse resistance in commercial cereal cultivars is the most cost-effective, sustainable strategy to control rust diseases. The ACRCP team has played a global leadership role in discovering rust resistance genes and supporting the development of resistant wheat, barley, and oat varieties. Our work is grounded in cutting-edge genetic research and pre-breeding innovation.
We continually screen diverse local and international germplasm, including historical collections, to identify and characterise resistance that can be effectively utilized in breeding programs. Our research employs advance cutting-edge genomic tools such as next-generation sequencing, bioinformatics and high-throughput phenomics to identify high value rust resistance genes and combinations to develop improved, durable rust-resistant cultivars.
Phase 5 of the Australian Cereal Rust Control Program (ACRCP) aims to boost the adoption of high-yielding, rust-resistant wheat varieties through collaborative breeding. Despite past progress in identifying durable rust resistance, many current wheat lines remain vulnerable to stripe, stem, and leaf rusts.
This phase focuses on developing cost-effective, accurate, and high-throughput phenotyping technologies for assessing rust resistance. Initial efforts have refined infection methods and delivered promising results for stripe rust resistance in controlled environments. The project supports both University of Sydney researchers and national breeders, with results to be shared through seminars, publications, and fee-for-service programs.
By 2026, improved screening tools will aid early detection of rust susceptibility. By 2036, the goal is for farmers to widely grow high-yield, rust-resistant wheat, minimizing yield losses and strengthening resistance to all major rust types.
Dr Yi Ding
To ensure food security, agriculture will require crops to withstand diseases caused by pest and pathogens. The most sustainable strategy to reduce such losses overcoming rust epidemics is to breed effective broad-spectrum disease resistance into cereal crops. However, traditional breeding approaches are inefficient and have taken little advantage of emerging knowledge of resistance gene function and rust pathogen recognition and regulation mechanisms. A better understanding of the host and pathogen genes that control these diseases may enable breeding of durable resistant cultivars and germplasms and fast developing of surveillance markers.
Using advanced genome and functional genomics approaches, research at PBI seek to expand the understanding on function of novel cereal rust resistance genes and pathogen virulence evolution. This will provide practical guidance for development of new approaches for breeding disease resistant cereals. Our long-term objective is to generate new germplasms and crop varieties with combined pleiotropic and broad-spectrum effective resistance to rust pathogens.
Mr. Matt Williams
The ACRCP provides direct support to cereal crop breeding companies under the GRDC Wheat and Barley Breeding Support program. Under this program the Plant Breeding Institute at Cobbitty receives material each year and tests it both in the field and in the greenhouse, to determine the susceptibility to rust pathogens. The PBI Cobbitty is uniquely able to do this testing due to the access to the Rust Collection of all known Australian rust pathotypes, and the skill of its staff in identifying, purifying, increasing and inoculating the pathotypes onto growing plants.
On average the PBI Cobbitty staff plant approximately 50 – 60,000 breeder’s lines in 5 ha of field space, and test 20,000 breeding lines in the greenhouse. We plant, inoculate, incubate and assess the crop plants, and return data to the breeding companies that allows them to produce cereal crop varieties that continue to suppress damaging crop outbreaks in Australia.
The purpose of a gene catalogue is to list the names and genomic details of individual genes of a species in a way that minimises duplication, is acceptable to scientists involved with the species, and in the case of a domesticated species, can be communicated to the wider community.
Common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) has a huge, triplicated genome and its genetic nomenclature requires unique rules that are internationally acceptable and can be applied to this hexaploid species, as well as its tetraploid and diploid relatives.
The first list of gene names for wheat was published in 1956. In 1968 the Third International Wheat Genetics Symposium held in Canberra requested a formal Wheat Genetics Catalogue that continues to the present time.
For any enquiries, please contact Blanca Bardaji, Research Manager at the Plant Breeding Institute: Blanca.bardaji@sydney.edu.au
