RESEARCH ON STEM RUST OF OAT AND BACTERIAL LEAF STREAK OF WHEAT

1.1. Establish a reliable phenotyping platform for oat stem rust screening. 1.2. Inventory the diversity and level of resistance (or a lack thereof) in current cultivars and breeding germplasm from regional breeding programs. 1.3. Identify and characterize new sources of major and adult plant resistance genes. 2.1. Monitor the movement of Xanthomonas translucens in wheat plants in field trials using seeds inoculated with rifampicin resistant strains. 2.2. Validate molecular methods to detect and quantify bacteria from infected seed using qPCR. 2.3. Visualize where the pathogen is located within infected wheat through microscopy. 2.4. Curate and expand a collection of Xanthomonas translucens strains from the Upper Midwest.