Transfer of Stripe Rust Resistance from Goatgrass to Bread Wheat

China has the largest area affected by stripe rust among all the bread wheat-producing countries in the world. Stripe rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici, is a common wheat disease in cool and temperate areas, thus scientists are searching for sources of adult-plant resistance gene for breeding. Dengcai Liu from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and colleagues, reported the transfer of stripe rust resistance from goatgrass (Aegilops variabili) to bread wheat through resistance breeding. The resulting line, TKL2(R) was crossed with a susceptible sister line TKL2(S). Through the genetic analysis of the offspring, it was discovered that the adult-plant resistance to stripe rust pathogen is encoded by a single dominant gene. The gene is important in wheat breeding in China because it was observed to confer resistance to pathogens endemic to the country.

Read the original article published by African Journal of Biotechnology at http://www.academicjournals.org/AJB/abstracts/abs2011/10Jan/Liu%20et%20al.htm.