Tansley Review No. 18 Mechanisms of resistance and pathogenic specialization in rust-wheat interactions.

Forms of resistance and pathogenic specialization in interactions between wheat and its stem and leaf rust Fungi have been selected for analysis with two hypotheses in mind. One is that phytoalexin formation is a universal defence mechanism in plants; the other is that resistance is elicited specifically by products of avirulent strains of pathogens. A search for phytoalexins in wheat, using a range of extraction and separation procedures and a number of forms of expression of resistance, has indicated the presence of several inhibitors of fungal development but has yielded very little evidence for post-infectional increases in the amounts of these inhibitors.