Stem rust fungus. Different from most fungi, the rust variations have five spore stages and alternate between two hosts. Wheat is the primary host, and barberry is the alternate host. There are multiple pathotypes (including QCC and MCC) affecting barley, within "forma specialis tritici". The stem rust fungus attacks the parts of the plant that are above ground. Spores that land on green wheat plants form a pustule that invades the outer layers of the stalk. Infected plants produce fewer tillers and set fewer seed, and in cases of severe infection the plant may die. Infection can reduce what is an apparently
True-breeding organism plants for gardeners are F1 hybrids, which if propagated from seed will produce F2 hydrids which are quite different from their parents; the F1 hybrids therefore don't breed true. True-breeding organism A true-breeding organism, sometimes also called a purebred, is an organism that always passes down certain phenotypic traits (i.e. physically expressed traits) to its offspring of many generations. An organism is referred to as true breeding for each trait to which this applies, and the term "true-breeding" is also used to describe individual genetic traits. In Mendelian genetics, this means that an organism must be homozygous for every trait