Mogens Hovmoller, Aarhus University

1. Mogens Støvring Hovmøller, Annemarie F Justesen, Chris K
Sørensen, Sajid Ali, Mehran Patpour, Yan-Yun Chen, Tine Thach,
Julian R Algaba, Poul Lassen, Jens G Hansen
Session 2: Scandinavian Partnerships that have Advanced the BGRI
Denmark's investment in the Global Rust
Reference Center (GRRC)

2. Outline
• Facilities: People, space, equipment and
ressources
• GRRC aims and mission
- Management: surveillance, ’early-warning’, on-line
dissemination of results, detection and maintenance of
pathogen genetic resources, etc.
- Training: International researchers and students
- Research: epidemiology, evolutionary biology, genetics
• Conclusions

3. International collaborators
• Kumarse Nazari, ICARDA
• Amor Yahyaoui, ICARDA
• Ravi Singh, CIMMYT
• Dave Hodson, CIMMYT
• Claude Pope, INRA (F)
• Jonathan Yuen, Uppsala University (S)
• Cristobal Uauy, JIC (UK)
• Rosemary Bayles, NIAB (UK)
• Kerstin Flath, JKI (D)
• James Brown, JIC(UK)
• > 40 people who submitted wheat rust
samples from Asia, Africa and South
America
GRRC-team March 2014

4. Wheat rust quarantine
facility

5. Green house &
lab space, GRRC,
2012-13
• 5 quarantine zones
(8-12 cabins/zone)
• 2 rust labs
• 1 molecular lab

6. Expanding quarantine facilities
November 2013

7. Expanding quarantine facilities
March 2014: Two new zones ready (1st April)

8. Expanding quarantine facilities
March 2014: Additional new rust lab ready

9. N2 storage of live wheat rust isolates
~ 8,500 samples from recent years and ~ 5,000
samples from the past (”Stubbs collection”)

10. Applied Research national
International Activities
National Strategic Research
pHd Education
Type of GRRC activities and funding bodies
Applied Research
International Activities
Strategic research
PhD Education/training

11. GRRC aims and mission:
Global Rust Reference Center (GRRC) established in 2008
on request from CIMMYT, ICARDA and the BGRI
Norman E. Borlaug –
Marts 2009 Cd. Obregon,
Mexico

12. GRRC aims and mission:
Global Rust Reference Center (GRRC) established in 2008
on request from CIMMYT, ICARDA and the BGRI
Brown & Hovmøller 2002. Science 297, 537-541

13. GRRC aims and mission:
Global Rust Reference Center (GRRC) established in 2008
on request from CIMMYT, ICARDA and the BGRI
Management (surveillance, ’early-warning’, genetic stock isolates)
• Getting alive pathogen samples: Quarantine facility which
can recieve live samples of wheat rust from any country year
round (in collaboration with national and regional labs)
• Purify and maintain genetic stocks: Keep pathogen genetic
ressources to assist resistance breeding and research
• Data management: Establish efficient (online) tools
• Training of students and cientists in wheat rust pathology

14. GRRC aims and mission
Global Rust Reference Center (GRRC) established in 2008
on request from CIMMYT, ICARDA and the BGRI
Management (surveillance, ’early-warning’, genetic stock isolates)
• Getting the pathogen samples: Quarantine facility which can
recieve live samples of wheat rust isolates from any country
year round
• Purify and maintain genetic stocks: Keep pathogen genetic
ressources to assist resistance breeding and research
• Data management: Establish efficient (online) tools
• Training of scientists in wheat rust pathology
Research
• Understanding pathogen spread and evolution at regional and
global scales, genetics of virulence, host-pathogen interactions
at the molecular level, improved tools for assessment of the
pathogen (and host) phenotype

15. The challences for understanding ’global’
spread and dynamics of wheat rust fungi
Improved techniques for assessment of
quantitative traits
Chris Sørensen

16. Jens
Grønbech
Hansen
Poul
Lassen

20. www.wheatrust.org/

21. Training wheat rust pathology
Training courses and supervision of international
students and researchers

22. Source: Kerstin Flath, JKI
Wheat stem rust in
Europe 2013
• 90 samples collected in Germany
• 2 samples collected in Denmark

23. NA1 NA2 NA3 NA4 NA5 NA6 NA7 NA8 NA9 NA10
(Sr5) (Sr21) (Sr9e) (Sr7b) (Sr11) (Sr6) (Sr8a) (Sr9g) (Sr36) (Sr9b)
NA11 NA12 NA13 NA14 NA15 NA16 NA17 NA18 NA19 NA20
(Sr30) (Sr17) (Sr9a) (Sr9d) (Sr10) (Sr24) (Sr31) (Sr38) (SrTmp) (SrMcN)
TKTTC
race

24. Conclusions
• Global Rust Reference Center is running and expanding –
current emphasis on yellow (stripe) rust and stem rust
• Significant new investments since start in 2008
(Danish & international funding of research, and Aarhus
University investments in facilities)
• Isolate stock collections expanding
• Wheat Rust Toolbox provide rapid online dissemination of
results => feed into several other “information systems”
• New methodologies for both host and pathogen
phenotyping in progress (quantitative level)
• The wheat rusts: Sustained efforts needed – recent
improvements may quickly become lost

25. Helsingør (30 km N Copenhagen), Denmark, July 5-8, 2015

26. International collaborators
• Kumarse Nazari, ICARDA
• Amor Yahyaoui, ICARDA
• Ravi Singh, CIMMYT
• Dave Hodson, CIMMYT
• Claude Pope, INRA (F)
• Jonathan Yuen, Uppsala University (S)
• Cristobal Uauy, JIC (UK)
• Rosemary Bayles, NIAB (UK)
• Kerstin Flath, JKI (D)
• James Brown, JIC(UK)
• > 40 people who submitted samples from
Asia, Africa and South America
GRRC-team March 2014
Photo courtesy: Richard Zeyen
Dr. Bent Skovmand