The Effect of Stem Rust Infection on the Soluble Proteins of Wheat Leaves

The soluble proteins of wheat leaf and of stem rust uredospores were resolved into about 28 and 34 components, respectively, by disk electrophoresis. The funguscontaining and the fungus-free areas of infected wheat leaves were examined. The electrophoretic pattern of an extract of the lesions was markedly different from the pattern of an extract of uninfected leaves. Comparison with the pattern of an extract of uredospores suggested that some of these differences were due to contamination with fungal proteins. For susceptible varieties, extracts of the extralesion areas of infected leaves showed different electrophoretic patterns from extracts of uninfected leaves. This was not so for resistant wheat varieties.