Identification of rust fungi in Australia a century after McAlpine

Abstract

Daniel McAlpine’s The Rusts of Australia: Their structure, nature and classification, published in 1906, has been the first point of contact for plant pathologists to identify rust fungi in Australia. Changes in taxonomy, new introductions and new discoveries have outdated this key reference. In order to update these changes, we developed a publicly available interactive online identification guide (Lucid) for the Australian rust fungi - collections.daff.qld.gov.au/web/key/rustfungi/. The guide is dynamic in that taxa can be added and renamed in line with changing taxonomies. Molecular barcodes were provided for most taxa featured on this website, including reference DNA sequences of many exotic taxa. In the course of this study, we have sequenced and assembled genomes of five endemic rust fungi, including a close relative of the introduced and established Austropuccinia psidii (myrtle rust), as well as rust taxa unique to the Southern Hemisphere. These genomic data will complement studies on model rust fungi and comparative studies on rust fungi that have evolved in rainforest habitats.