The transfer of leaf and stem rust resistance from wild emmer wheats to durum and common wheat

Abstract

Wild emmer wheats (Triticum turgidum var. dicoccoides L.) are potentially valuable sources of leaf rust (Puccinia triticina Eriks.) and stem rust (Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici Eriks. & Henn.) resistance in breeding both durum (T. turgidum var. durum L.) and common wheat (T. aestivum L.). In an extension of previous work, 11 rust resistant accessions of wild emmer wheat were crossed and backcrossed from two to five times to susceptible durum or common wheats. Genes for leaf or stem rust resistance were transferred singly into several susceptible genotypes. Backcross lines homozygous for resistance to leaf rust were tested with a set of either 9 or 10 leaf rust races and those homozygous for resistance to stem rust were tested with a set of either 10 or 13 stem rust races. The emmer wheats proved to carry a number of genes for resistance to each rust. In most cases, when a cross was made to a hexaploid wheat, resistance to both rusts was suppressed in the F1 seedlings, even when resistance was dominant in the tetraploids. Nevertheless, resistance was successfully transferred from several accessions to the hexaploids, indicating that suppressors on the A or B genome chromosomes were involved and segregation occurred for them. Rust resistance tended to decrease when it was transferred to another species, particularly hexaploid wheat. A number of lines carrying genes for either leaf rust or stem rust resistance were resistant to all races with which they were tested and have potential in wheat breeding.