Puccinia striiformis Westend. f. sp. tritici Erikss. (Pst) infects wheat and causes stripe rust.  The rust is heteroecious with wheat as the primary uredinial and telial host and barberry (Berberis spp.) as the alternate pycnial and aecial host.  More than 40 Berberis species have been identified as alternate hosts for Pst, and most of these are Chinese Berberis species.  However, little is known about Berberis species or their geographic distributions in the Yunnan-Guizhou plateau in southwestern China.  The Yunnan-Guizhou plateau is considered to be an important and relatively independent region for the evolution of the wheat stripe rust pathogen in China because the entire disease cycle can be completed within the region.  In this study, we conducted a survey of barberry plants in the Yunnan-Guizhou plateau and identified the eight Pst-susceptible Berberis species under controlled conditions, including B. julianae, B. tsienii, B. veitchii, B. wilsonae, B. wilsonae var. guhtzunica, B. franchetiana, B. lepidifolia and B. pruinosa.  These species are reported here for the first time to serve as alternate hosts for the wheat stripe rust pathogen under controlled conditions. 

Since the recent discovery of barberry (Berberis spp.) as an alternate host for the stripe rust pathogen Puccinia striiformis, many Chinese Berberis species have been identified as alternate hosts for P. striiformis f. sp. tritici.  However, little is known about Berberis species and their distribution in wheat-growing regions in Xinjiang, China, where stripe rust is endemic.  As the largest province or autonomous region, Xinjiang represents a relatively independent epidemic region for wheat stripe rust in China.  In this study, we conducted a survey of barberry plants in the main wheat-growing areas of Xinjiang.  We identified three Berberis species, B. heteropoda, B. nummularia and B. kaschgarica, and confirmed their roles as potential alternate hosts for P. striiformis f. sp. tritici in the laboratory.