The differentially induced genes upon Puccinia infection were identified in creeping red fescue as homologs of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) 3 of Arabidopsis thaliana, stem rust resistance protein Rpg1 of barley and Hsp70 of Spinacia oleracea. The change in the steady state expression levels of these genes in response to rust infection was tested by Northern blot analysis and further quantified by real time PCR. A steady accumulation of transcripts in the course of rust infection was observed. Full-length transcript of a fescue MPK-3 was obtained by RACE PCR. Its corresponding cDNA encodes a protein with a predicted MW of 42.5 kDa which was mapped onto the structural model of homologs MAPK to illustrate the corresponding MAPK signature motifs.