The inheritance of adult plant resistance to stem rust derived from wheat cultivars Bonza and Chris

Abstract

The wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars Bonza and Chris have adult plant resistance to stem rust (Puccinia graminis Pers. f. sp. tritici Eriks. & Henn.) in addition to genes for specific resistance. Both cultivars were crossed to a susceptible wheat, LMPG. Lines carrying the adult plant resistances of the two parents were produced by selecting for seedling susceptibility in the greenhouse and adult plant resistance in the field to race 15B-1 (TMH). Three homozygous lines derived from Bonza and two from Chris were crossed and backcrossed to LMPG. Backcross F2 families were grown in a field nursery inoculated with a multi-race mixture of eight stem rust isolates including 15B-1. Stem rust severities in percent were recorded. An analysis of the data indicated that adult plant resistance of Bonza was controlled by a single recessive gene and that of Chris by two complementary recessive genes. Since the resistance was effective against a complex mixture of virulent stem rust races, it should be of interest to wheat breeders. Key words: Stem rust, Puccinia graminis, common wheat, Triticum aestivum, adult plant resistance