A new study entitled “Determination of Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici races of wheat in Turkey” has been published in the Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry. Dr Zafer Mert from the Central Research Institute for Field Crops (CRIFC), Ankara led the study. Extensive surveys throughout the wheat growing regions of Turkey were undertaken in 2007 & 2008. From these surveys a total of 40 stem rust isolates were obtained and race analysis, using the North American 20 genotype differential set, was carried out. A total of 21 different stem races were identified over the 2 year period. Race TKTTC was the most common race identified. Unpublished studies by Dr Mert and the  CRIFC research group have revealed the continued predominance of race TKTTC in Turkey in 2011 & 2012. The study indicates that pathogenic variation of Pgt in Turkey is high and the common occurrence of Berberis spp. was noted by the authors, although no direct evidence for a functional role  was demonstrated in the current study. No Ug99 race group members were detected in the study. Resistance genes; Sr24, Sr26, Sr27 and Sr31 were all found to be effective against all Pgt races present in Turkey.