Disease Resistance Evaluation of Elite CIMMYT Wheat Lines Containing the Coupled Fhb1 and Sr2 Genes.

Fusarium head blight (FHB) and stem rust are among the most devastating diseases of wheat worldwide. Fhb1 is the most widely utilized and the only isolated gene for FHB resistance, while Sr2 is a durable stem rust resistance gene used in rust-prone areas. The two loci are closely linked on the short arm of chromosome 3B and the two genes are in repulsion phase among cultivars. With climate change and the shift in Fusarium populations, it is imperative to develop wheat cultivars resistant to both diseases. The present study was dedicated to developing wheat germplasm combining Fhb1 and Sr2 resistance alleles in the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)'s elite cultivars' backgrounds. Four recombinant inbred lines (RILs) in Hartog background that have the resistant Fhb1 and Sr2 alleles in coupled phase linkage were crossed with seven CIMMYT bread wheat lines, resulting in 208 lines. Molecular markers for both genes were employed in addition to the use of pseudo-black chaff (PBC) as a phenotypic marker for the selection of Sr2. At various stages of the selection process, progeny lines were assessed for FHB index, Fusarium damaged kernels (FDK), stem rust, and PBC expression as well as other diseases of interest (stripe rust and leaf spotting diseases). The 25 best lines were selected for CIMMYT's wheat breeding program. In addition to expressing resistance to FHB, most of these 25 lines have an acceptable level of resistance to other tested diseases. These lines will be useful for wheat breeding programs worldwide and potentially speed up the resistance breeding efforts against FHB and stem rust.

Identification of Coupling and Repulsion Phase DNA Marker Associated With an Allele of a Gene Conferring Host Plant Resistance to Pigeonpea sterility mosaic virus (PPSMV) in Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L. Millsp.).

Pigeonpea Sterility Mosaic Disease (PSMD) is an important foliar disease caused by Pigeonpea sterility mosaic virus (PPSMV) which is transmitted by eriophyid mites (Aceria cajani Channabasavanna). In present study, a F2 mapping population comprising 325 individuals was developed by crossing PSMD susceptible genotype (Gullyal white) and PSMD resistant genotype (BSMR 736). We identified a set of 32 out of 300 short decamer random DNA markers that showed polymorphism between Gullyal white and BSMR 736 parents. Among them, eleven DNA markers showed polymorphism including coupling and repulsion phase type of polymorphism across the parents. Bulked Segregant Analysis (BSA), revealed that the DNA marker, IABTPPN7, produced a single coupling phase marker (IABTPPN7414) and a repulsion phase marker (IABTPPN7983) co-segregating with PSMD reaction. Screening of 325 F2 population using IABTPPN7 revealed that the repulsion phase marker, IABTPPN7983, was co-segregating with the PSMD responsive SV1 at a distance of 23.9 cM for Bidar PPSMV isolate. On the other hand, the coupling phase marker IABTPPN7414 did not show any linkage with PSMD resistance. Additionally, single marker analysis both IABTPPN7983 (P<0.0001) and IABTPPN 7414 (P<0.0001) recorded a significant association with the PSMD resistance and explained a phenotypic variance of 31 and 36% respectively in F2 population. The repulsion phase marker, IABTPPN7983, could be of use in Marker-Assisted Selection (MAS) in the PPSMV resistance breeding programmes of pigeonpea.