Development of Race-Specific SCAR Markers for Detection of Chinese Races CYR32 and CYR33 of Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici.

Wheat stripe rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici, is a devastating disease in China. Races CYR32 and CYR33 have been predominant in the recent P. striiformis f. sp. tritici population. To develop molecular markers for these races, initially 86 isolates, most of which were collected in 2007 throughout China, were tested on the set of wheat genotypes for differentiating Chinese P. striiformis f. sp. tritici races, and their genomic DNA were amplified with 94 random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) primers. Twelve isolates were identified as CYR33, 14 as CYR32, and 60 as 13 other races. A 320-bp band was identified to be associated with CYR32 with primer S1271 (5'-CTTCTCGGTC-3'), and a 550-bp band was identified to be specific to CYR33 with primer S1304 (5'-AGGAGCGACA-3'). The two bands were cloned and sequenced. Based on the sequences, sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers CYR32sp1/sp2 and CYR33sp1/sp2 were developed to differentiate CYR32 and CYR33, respectively, from other races. The SCAR markers were validated with DNA samples from wheat leaves inoculated with selected isolates from the 86 isolates and urediniospore DNA samples from an additional 63 isolates collected from 2006 to 2009. The detection of CYR32 and CYR33 with the SCAR markers was completely consistent with the results of the race identification with the set of differential wheat genotypes. Thus, the markers are highly reliable for identification of the two races.