Rust (fungus) Rust (fungus) Rusts are plant diseases caused by pathogenic fungi of the order Pucciniales (previously also known as Uredinales). An estimated 168 rust genera and approximately 7,000 species, more than half of which belong to the genus "Puccinia", are currently accepted. Rust fungi are highly specialized plant pathogens with several unique features. Taken as a group, rust fungi are diverse and affect many kinds of plants. However, each species has a very narrow range of hosts and cannot be transmitted to non-host plants. In addition, most rust fungi cannot be grown easily in pure culture. A single species of rust
Genetically modified organism be genetically engineered and is considered a model organism for not only genetic engineering, but a range of other fields. As such the transgenic tools and procedures are well established making it one of the easiest plants to transform. Another major model organism relevant to genetic engineering is "Arabidopsis thaliana." Its small genome and short life cycle makes it easy to manipulate and it contains many homolgs to important crop species. It was the first plant sequenced, has abundant bioinformatic resources and can be transformed by simply dipping a flower in a transformed "Agrobacterium" solution. In research, plants are engineered