Scientists have found that strains of the wheat pathogen causing severe yellow rust epidemics in Europe have their origin in the centre of diversity in the Himalayan region. It seems that the fungus has been spread by rust spores carried by the wind from Asia to Europe, possibly through the northern part of Central Asia. The yellow rust fungus is genetically very diverse in the Himalayas, where it can infect wheat and barley as well as common barberry, the sexual host of the fungus. Find out more here