Histopathology of Leaf Rust Infection and Development in Wheat Genotypes containing Lr12 and Lr13

Evidence exists that certain genes for resistance to leaf rust in wheat, e.g. Lr13 and Lr34 , may interact with other genes to condition higher levels of resistance than that conferred by each gene individually. In this study, the hypothesis that Lr12 and Lr13 , both genes for adult plant resistance to Puccinia recondita Roberge ex. Desmaz f. sp. tritici Eriks. and Henn., interact to confer an improved level of resistance, was investigated using fluorescence and phase‐contrast microscopy. Flag leaf segments of monogenic and digenic Thatcher lines, sampled 64 and 240 h post‐inoculation, were stained with Uvitex 2B and screened, using fluorescence microscopy, for development of infection structures or host response. To study cell wall appositions, specimens were stained with trypan blue and a solution of picric acid in methyl salicylate. Aborted penetration, consisting of nonpenetrating appressoria and aborted substomatal vesicles, showed that inhibition of fungal growth in wheat lines containing Lr12 and/or Lr13 was activated, to a certain degree, before haustoria were formed. At 240 h after inoculation colony size indicated that fungal colonies in the Lr gene combination lines were generally smaller than in the parents, but not necessarily smaller than those in a line with Lr13 only. Host cell necrosis was more frequently associated with infection sites, specifically of pathotype UVPrt2, in the combination lines than in the parents. The morphology of cell wall appositions varied considerably from a narrow, luminous zone slightly wider in the centre, to a thick central part opposite the haustorium mother cell, sharply decreasing towards both ends. Histological assessments could, however, not conclusively prove pronounced resistance enhancement or unconventional resistance mechanisms due to combining the genes Lr12 and Lr13 .