Analysis of Ukrainian Polissya and Forest-steppe winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars for the presence of “resistant” allelic state of non-race-specific disease resistance locus Lr34/Yr18/Pm38

Abstract

Resistance against rusts and powdery mildew is one of the most important traits of modern wheat cultivars, because in some years these diseases can significantly reduce crop yields. The genes that confer durable non-race-specific resistance are of interest to many breeding programs. One of them is Lr34/Yr18/Pm38. This multiple resistance locus is associated with partial and durable resistance to rust diseases, powdery mildew and tolerance to barley yellow dwarf virus. We used marker caISBP1 (insertion site-based polymorphism marker) specific for the resistance, associated with the Lr34/Yr18/Pm38 gene. It is a co-dominant marker between loci coding ABC-transporter and cytochrome P450 in the region involved in resistance expression. We investigated a collection of 28 winter wheat cultivars of NSC ‘’Institute of Agriculture NAAS Ukraine’’ developed in different periods. The “resistant” allelic state of the marker caISBP1 was identified in 11 cultivars (39% of the total number). The “susceptible” allelic state (the Lr34- allele) was identified in 9 wheat cultivars (32%) and 8 (29%) cultivars were heterozygous. Our investigation confirmed the presence of the Lr34+ allele in Polissya and Forest-Steppe winter wheat cultivars

Keywords

• rust diseases, adult plant resistance, winter wheat