PUBLICATION 8011

Peach Rust Caused by

Tranzschelia discolor in
California
UNIVERSITY OF
CALIFORNIA
Agriculture
and Natural Resources
http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu

J. E. ADASKAVEG, Associate Professor; A. SOTO-ESTRADA, Graduate Student;

H. FRSTER, Staff Research Associate; and D. THOMPSON, Postgraduate Researcher,
Department of Plant Pathology, UC Riverside. J. HASEY, Farm Advisor; and B. T. MANJI,
Plant Pathologist/Farm Advisor, Retired, UCCE Sutter-Yuba Counties. B. TEVIOTDALE,
UC Extension Specialist, Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center.

P
Figure 1.
Twig cankers (arrows)
caused by the rust fungus
T. discolor on a 1-yr-old
peach shoot.

each rust caused by the fungus Tranzschelia discolor (Fuckel) Tranz. and Lit.
occurs wherever peaches are grown in California. In the major production areas of
the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, the disease can be found almost every
year from spring through autumn. In the drier San Joaquin Valley, peach rust usually
occurs later in the season, and economic losses are not as great as in the Sacramento
Valley. The incidence of disease in both valleys depends largely on temperature and
rainfall during the growing season. Economic losses have occurred only in years
with high spring rainfalls, greater than 7.5 cm (3 inches) in May and June.
Infections of leaves and young twigs are the most common symptoms, but in
California, fruit infections may be a major component of the disease and result in
economic losses. A high incidence of early leaf infections may cause midseason defoliation of trees and numerous fruit infections at harvest. Infected fruit are rejected or
downgraded by packers or processors. On canning peaches, the sunken fruit lesions
cannot be removed by peeling. Downgraded fruit are usually diverted to juicing,
which results in minimal economic returns to the grower. Early and severe defoliation also may reduce yields and stimulate the production of new leaves and buds late
in the growing season.

SYMPTOMS
Twig cankers, leaf lesions, and fruit lesions are the common symptoms of the disease
on peach in California. Not all of these symptoms may develop in every growing season.
Twig cankers
Twig cankers are the first symptoms of the disease in the spring. Cankers develop
after petal fall during early fruit development on 1-year-old fruiting wood (9 to 12
months old). They appear as blisters and longitudinal splits in the bark about 3 to 6
mm (18 to 14 inch) long (fig. 1, arrows). The infections begin as water-soaked lesions
that swell and rupture only the epidermal tissue of the twig (figs. 2 and 3). Cankers
are usually found on the upper, reddish side of the twig and can be seen more easily using a 20X hand lens. A few days after emergence (3 to 7 days, depending on the
temperature), the cankers, which are about 1 to 4 by 3 to 6 mm (125 to 16 by 18 to 14
inch) in size, mature and produce rusty brown powdery masses of specialized spores
called urediniospores (fig. 4). Urediniospores, as observed under a compound
microscope (fig. 5, left side), are spiny and sharply constricted at the base. Old

ANR Publication 8011

PEACH RUST CAUSED BY TRANZSCHELIA DISCOLOR IN CALIFORNIA

Figure 3.
Twig canker caused by
T. discolor on reddish
upper surface of a
9-month-old peach
shoot.

Figure 2.
Early stage
of a twig canker
caused by T. discolor
on reddish upper surface
of a 9-month-old peach
shoot.

Figure 4.
Early stage of a twig
canker caused by T. discolor
on reddish upper surface of
a 9-month-old peach
shoot.

Figure 5.
Light micrograph of urediniospores (left) and
teliospores (right) of T. discolor. The one-celled
urediniospores are 15 to 23 by 28 to 44
micrometers in size; the two-celled teliospores
are 18 to 27 by 30 to 39 micrometers in size.

ANR Publication 8011

PEACH RUST CAUSED BY TRANZSCHELIA DISCOLOR IN CALIFORNIA

Figure 6.
Nonsporulating twig
cankers (arrows)
caused by T. discolor
on a 1.5-yr-old peach
shoot.

Figure 7.
Close-up of an old
twig canker with no
fungal sporulation on
a 1.5 yr-old peach
shoot.

Figure 8.
Close-up of a healing
twig canker on a 2-yrold peach shoot with
secondary branch
growth.

ANR Publication 8014

APPENDIX A: Sediment Delivery Inventory and Monitoring Worksheet and Record

cankers 5 to 10 by 10 to 15 mm (15 to 25 by 25 to 35 inch) in size are observed by the

middle to the end of the growing season. Cankers on branches that are 1.5 to 2 years
old may persist in the following growing season (figs. 68) until bark formation
occurs. Old cankers no longer contain viable spores.
Twig cankers on peach may be confused with hail damage or large lenticels (specialized host structures facilitating gas exchange to the internal twig tissues after
bark formation). Positive identification of rust cankers depends on observing the
rusty brown spores of the fungus developing in the canker (see fig. 4).

Figure 9.
Leaf symptoms of rust
on peach.

Leaf lesions
Leaf lesions (figs. 9, 1113) usually develop after cankers form in the spring (late
April to June) and may continue to develop through the summer and into the fall.
Defoliation may result during epidemics, when numerous infections occur on individual leaves. The first diseased leaves observed in the spring are usually in the
immediate proximity of twig cankers (fig. 10, arrow). Initially, lesions develop as
pale yellowish-green spots visible on both leaf surfaces. As the disease progresses,
the lesions become bright yellow and angular (see figs. 11 and 12). With age, they
become necrotic in the center (see fig. 10). On the lower leaf surface, numerous
spore pustules (uredinia) can be differentiated in individual lesions at higher magnification (fig. 14). Lower-leaf lesions become rusty brown due to the production of
powdery masses of urediniospores (see figs. 1314). At the end of the growing season, leaf lesions may turn dark brown to black as they produce two-celled
teliospores (see fig. 5, right side). Lower-leaf lesions caused by the rust fungus cannot be confused with any other leaf spot because of their angular shape, small size,
and rusty brown appearance.

ANR Publication 8011

PEACH RUST CAUSED BY TRANZSCHELIA DISCOLOR IN CALIFORNIA

Figure 10.
Leaf symptoms
of rust on
peach.

Figure 11.
Numerous yellow angular
rust lesions on upper surface of a peach leaf.

Figure 12.
Close-up of angular yellow rust lesions on upper surface of a peach leaf.

Figure 13.
Rust symptoms on lower
surface of a peach leaf.

ANR Publication 8011

PEACH RUST CAUSED BY TRANZSCHELIA DISCOLOR IN CALIFORNIA

Fruit lesions
Fruit lesions may develop during the growing season after
leaf symptoms. They first develop as brownish spots with
green halos on mature, yellow fruit (fig. 15). When fruit
redden, lesion halos become greenish-yellow (fig. 16). In
cross-section, the lesions are depressed and extend several
millimeters into the fruit (fig. 17). Numerous infections
may develop on each fruit, and these can lead to secondary infections by other fungi such as species of
Monilinia, Colletotrichum, Alternaria, and Cladosporium,
resulting in fruit decay (fig. 18, top left and right fruits).

PAT H O G E N A N D E P I D E M I O L O G Y

Figure 14.
Close-up of angular yellow lesions with rusty brown
uredinia on lower surface of a peach leaf.

Figure 15.
Rust lesions on mature, yellow
fruit developing as brownish
spots with green halos.

Tranzschelia discolor is a fungal pathogen that attacks plants

of the genus Prunus, including almond, apricot, cherry,
peach, nectarine, plum, and prune. It is most common,
however, on almond, peach, and prune. The fungus can be
separated by special forms, or formae speciales (f. sp.),
based on the host where it is found. These forms are T. discolor f. sp. persicae on peach, T. discolor f. sp. dulcis on
almond, and T. discolor f. sp. domesticae on prune.
Although cross-infection of forms among Prunus spp.
occurs (e.g., the pathogen from almond infecting peach),
symptom expression is usually delayed, lesions are fewer in
number, and fungal sporulation is reduced.
Tranzschelia discolor has multiple spore stages (macrocyclic) that develop on two different hosts (heteroecious).
The only alternate host that has been reported for the peach
rust fungus in California is Anemone coronaria
(Ranunculaceae). The spore stages are urediniospores,
teliospores, basidiospores, and aeciospores. Only urediniospores and teliospores are found on Prunus spp. (see fig.
5). For peach rust, the single-celled, rusty brown urediniospores are produced on peach and can re-infect peach.
This secondary infection and subsequent spore production
and reinfection causes economic damage on peach. The
dark brown teliospores that develop on peach late in the
season cannot reinfect peach. After overwintering, the
teliospores germinate and produce basidiospores that in
turn infect the alternate host, A. coronaria. Aeciospores that
are produced on A. coronaria infect only Prunus spp., and
the resulting infection produces the first cycle of urediniospores in the spring. In California, aeciospores have been
experimentally shown to infect almond, apricot, peach, and
prune, but the A. coronaria host is rare where stone fruit
crops are grown. Anemone spp. are therefore not considered
inoculum sources for initial spring infections of peach rust
in California.

ANR Publication 8011

PEACH RUST CAUSED BY TRANZSCHELIA DISCOLOR IN CALIFORNIA

Figure 16.
Rust lesions on mature reddish fruit developing as
brownish spots with yellow
halos.

Figure 17.
Cross-section of depressed fruit
lesion showing necrotic tissue in
mesocarp (fruit flesh).

Urediniospores contaminating
peach twigs and buds also cannot be
the initial inoculum sources because
these spores are generally short-lived
and do not survive during host dormancy. Instead, the fungus probably
overwinters as mycelia in fruit wood
infections from the previous summer
and fall. In the spring these infections
most likely become the twig cankers
that are the source of primary inoculum each year. Urediniospores from
twig cankers then infect nearby
leaves, more spores are produced in
the leaf lesions (secondary inoculum), and under favorable environmental conditions, the disease
becomes epidemic due to repeated
infections of leaves and fruit.
Urediniospores are disseminated by
wind. Rainfall and higher wind velocity result in increased numbers of airborne spores.
Figure 18.
Numerous rust lesions and secondary infections of peach fruit.

ANR Publication 8011

PEACH RUST CAUSED BY TRANZSCHELIA DISCOLOR IN CALIFORNIA

Because urediniospores germinate over a wide temperature range, from 5 to

30C (41 to 86F) with an optimal temperature of 10 to 25C (50 to 77F), the
availability of viable spores (inoculum) and wetness are major factors for determining infection periods. Leaf and twig infections can occur over a wide range of wetness
periods (12 to 36 hours) and temperatures (15 to 25C [59 to 77F]). In controlled
experiments the optimal wetness duration and temperature for infection was 18 to 36
hours at 15 to 20C (59 to 68F). Additionally, the incubation period needed for visible leaf symptoms to develop, after an infection, is 8 to 10 days, whereas the incubation period for twig symptoms is 4 to 6 weeks at 20C (68F). The wetness and
temperature conditions for fruit infection and symptom expression are not known.

SUMMARY
Our current knowledge about the development of peach rust epidemics in California
indicates that high rainfalls (greater than 7.5 cm [3 inches] in May and June) and a
high incidence of twig cankers in the spring favor high levels of leaf and fruit infections in the early and middle portion of the growing season. Furthermore, peach rust
epidemics on leaves in the fall have been correlated with a high incidence of twig
cankers in the following spring. Wetness periods, leaf infections, and twig cankers are
the critical components of the disease cycle for forecasting peach rust in California.

F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N
You will find more information on peach rust in the peach guideline in UC IPM Pest
Management Guidelines (ANR Publication 3339), available at UCCE county offices
or from the IPM website at http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu. For a detailed summary of
the disease and for further information on peach production, see Integrated Pest
Management for Stone Fruits (ANR Publication 3389) and Peaches, Plums, and
Nectarines: Growing and Handling for the Fresh Market (ANR Publication 3331). See
also Postharvest Handling of California Stone Fruits (ANR Slide Set 97/102) and Stone
Fruit Bloom Stages (ANR Slide Set 99/103).
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An electronic version of this publication is available on the ANR Communication Services website at
http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu.

ANR Publication 8011

PEACH RUST CAUSED BY TRANZSCHELIA DISCOLOR IN CALIFORNIA

This publication was funded in part with a grant from the Cling Peach Advisory Board of California.
Publication 8011
2000 by the Regents of the University of California
Agriculture and Natural Resources. All rights reserved.
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ISBN 978-1-60107-191-0