Question

Assertion :Puccinia can infect wheat only if Berberis vulgaris is growing near wheat. Reason: Black rust is heteroecious.

• A. Both Assertion and Reason are correct and Reason is the correct explanation for Assertion.
• B. Both Assertion and Reason are correct but Reason is not the correct explanation for Assertion.
• C. Assertion is correct but Reason is incorrect.
• D. Assertion is incorrect but Reason is correct.

Answer 1

The correct option is A Both Assertion and Reason are correct and Reason is the correct explanation for Assertion.

Puccnia appear on barberry plants in the spring, usually in the upper leaf surfaces. They are often in small clusters and exude pycniospores in a sticky honeydew. 5 to 10 days later, cup-shaped structures filled with orange-yellow, powdery aeciospores break through the lower leaf surface. The aecial cups are yellow and sometimes elongate to extend up to 5 mm from the leaf surface.

A heteroecious parasite is one, that requires at least two hosts. The primary host is the host in which the parasite spends its adult life; the other is the secondary host. Both, the primary host and an unrelated alternate host are required for the parasite to complete its life cycle. Here, the primary host is Berberis, while wheat is the secondary host.

Thus, the correct answer is option A.