title: The coffee leaf rust pathogen Hemileia vastatrix: one and a half centuries around the tropics.
abstract: Hemileia vastatrix Berk. and Broome (Basidiomycota, Pucciniales) was described in 1869 in eastern Africa and Ceylon as the agent of coffee leaf rust and has spread to all coffee cultivation areas worldwide. Major disease outbreaks in Asia, Africa and America caused and continue to cause severe yield losses, making this the most important disease of Arabica coffee, a cash crop for many tropical and sub-tropical countries.
  
  
  
  Hemileia vastatrix is a hemicyclic fungus with the urediniosporic life cycle as its most important (if not only) source of inoculum. Chlorotic spots are the first macroscopic symptoms, preceding the differentiation of suprastomatal, bouquet-shaped, orange-coloured uredinia. The disease can cause yield losses of up to 35% and have a polyetic epidemiological impact on subsequent years.
  
  
  
  Although the use of fungicides is one of the preferred immediate control measures, the use of resistant cultivars is considered to be the most effective and durable disease control strategy. The discovery of 'Híbrido de Timor' provided sources of resistance that have been used in several breeding programmes and that have been proven to be effective and durable, as some have been in use for more than 30 years.
  
  
  
  Although exhibiting limited genetic polymorphism, the very large genome of H. vastatrix (c. 797 Mbp) conceals great pathological diversity, with more than 50 physiological races. Gene expression studies have revealed a very precocious activation of signalling pathways and production of putative effectors, suggesting that the plant-fungus dialogue starts as early as at the germ tube stage, and have provided clues for the identification of avr genes.
authors.affiliation: CIFC, Centro de Investigação das Ferrugens do Cafeeiro, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Quinta do Marquês, Oeiras, 2784-505, Portugal.|LEAF, Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, Lisbon, 1349-017, Portugal.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Talhinhas
authors.affiliation: CIFC, Centro de Investigação das Ferrugens do Cafeeiro, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Quinta do Marquês, Oeiras, 2784-505, Portugal.|LEAF, Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, Lisbon, 1349-017, Portugal.|Computational Biology and Population Genomics Group, cE3c - Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, Lisbon, 1749-016, Portugal.
authors.forename: Dora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Batista
authors.affiliation: CIFC, Centro de Investigação das Ferrugens do Cafeeiro, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Quinta do Marquês, Oeiras, 2784-505, Portugal.|LEAF, Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, Lisbon, 1349-017, Portugal.
authors.forename: Inês
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Diniz
authors.affiliation: CIFC, Centro de Investigação das Ferrugens do Cafeeiro, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Quinta do Marquês, Oeiras, 2784-505, Portugal.|Computational Biology and Population Genomics Group, cE3c - Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, Lisbon, 1749-016, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vieira
authors.affiliation: CIFC, Centro de Investigação das Ferrugens do Cafeeiro, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Quinta do Marquês, Oeiras, 2784-505, Portugal.|Computational Biology and Population Genomics Group, cE3c - Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, Lisbon, 1749-016, Portugal.
authors.forename: Diogo N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: CIFC, Centro de Investigação das Ferrugens do Cafeeiro, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Quinta do Marquês, Oeiras, 2784-505, Portugal.|LEAF, Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, Lisbon, 1349-017, Portugal.
authors.forename: Andreia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Loureiro
authors.affiliation: CIFC, Centro de Investigação das Ferrugens do Cafeeiro, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Quinta do Marquês, Oeiras, 2784-505, Portugal.
authors.forename: Sílvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tavares
authors.affiliation: CIFC, Centro de Investigação das Ferrugens do Cafeeiro, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Quinta do Marquês, Oeiras, 2784-505, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ana Paula
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: CIFC, Centro de Investigação das Ferrugens do Cafeeiro, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Quinta do Marquês, Oeiras, 2784-505, Portugal.|LEAF, Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, Lisbon, 1349-017, Portugal.
authors.forename: Helena G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Azinheira
authors.affiliation: CIFC, Centro de Investigação das Ferrugens do Cafeeiro, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Quinta do Marquês, Oeiras, 2784-505, Portugal.|LEAF, Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, Lisbon, 1349-017, Portugal.
authors.forename: Leonor
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guerra-Guimarães
authors.affiliation: CIFC, Centro de Investigação das Ferrugens do Cafeeiro, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Quinta do Marquês, Oeiras, 2784-505, Portugal.|LEAF, Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, Lisbon, 1349-017, Portugal.
authors.forename: Vítor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Várzea
authors.affiliation: CIFC, Centro de Investigação das Ferrugens do Cafeeiro, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Quinta do Marquês, Oeiras, 2784-505, Portugal.|LEAF, Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, Lisbon, 1349-017, Portugal.
authors.forename: Maria do Céu
authors.initials: MDC
authors.lastname: Silva
mesh_terms: D001487:Basidiomycota / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D040503:Coffea / Q000382:microbiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000382:microbiology*; D014329:Tropical Climate
keywords: Hemileia vastatrix; Pucciniales; coffea; coffee leaf rust; obligate biotrophy