INHERITANCE OF CROWN RUST RESISTANCE IN THREE ACCESSIONS OF AVENA STERILIS

Abstract

The inheritance of resistance to oat crown rust was studied in three accessions of Avena sterilis L. Accession CAV 4274 originated from Morocco, CAV 4540 from Algeria, and CAV 3695 from Tunisia. Seedling rust tests on F2 backcross families indicated the presence of two dominant genes for crown rust resistance in CAV 4274. One of these, a gene conditioning resistance to most races tested, was linked or allelic to gene Pc-38, and was designated gene Pc-62. The second gene conferred resistance only to one of the six races studied, and was not tested further. In CAV 4540, a single dominant gene, Pc-63 was possibly allelic with Pc-62 and linked or allelic to Pc-38. Genes Pc-62 and 63 are generally similar to Pc-38 in their resistance spectrum, but these three genes are differentiated by races CR 102, CR 103, and CR 107. A single dominant gene in CAV 3695 appeared to be Pc-50.