Advances in understanding the biology and epidemiology of rust diseases of cereals

Rust fungi (order: Pucciniales) constitute the largest group of plant parasitic fungi and include many species of agricultural importance. This includes the three wheat rust fungi (Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici, Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici and Puccinia triticina) that have posed a threat to crop production throughout history. This chapter provides an overview of the wheat rust pathogen lifecycle that has been critical to the design of effective disease management strategies and discusses recent integration of basic biological knowledge and genomic-led tools within an epidemiological framework. Furthermore, we include a case study on the “field pathogenomics” technique, illustrating the value of genomic-based tools in disease surveillance activities. Bringing together advances in understanding basic pathogen biology, developments in modelling for disease forecasting and identification, alongside genomic-led advances in surveillance and resistance gene cloning, holds great promise for curtailing the threat of these notorious pathogens.