Resistance to wheat leaf rust in Aegilops tauschii Coss. and inheritance of resistance in hexaploid wheat

A collection of 164 Aegilops tauschii accessions, obtained from Gatersleben, Germany, was screened for reaction to leaf rust under controlled greenhouse conditions. We have also evaluated a selection of synthetic hexaploid wheats, produced by hybridizing Ae. tauschii with tetraploid durum wheats, as well as the first and second generation of hybrids between some of these resistant synthetic hexaploid wheats and susceptible Triticum aestivum cultivars. Eighteen (11%) accessions of Ae. tauschii were resistant to leaf rust among which 1 was immune, 13 were highly resistant and 4 were moderately resistant. Six of the synthetic hexaploid wheats expressed a high level of leaf rust resistance while four exhibited either a reduced or complete susceptibility compared to their corresponding diploid parent. This suppression of resistance at the hexaploid level suggests the presence of suppressor genes in the A and/or B genomes of the T. turgidum parent. Inheritance of leaf rust resistance from the intercrosses with susceptible bread wheats revealed that resistance was dominant over susceptibility. Leaf rust resistance from the three synthetics (syn 101, syn 701 and syn 901) was effectively transmitted as a single dominant gene and one synthetic (syn 301) possessed two different dominant genes for resistance.     

Evaluation of Aegilops tauschii Coss. for resistance to wheat stem rust and inheritance of resistance genes in hexaploid wheat

With the objective to identify new sources of resistance to wheat stem rust, a collection of 169 accessions ofAegilops tauschii, obtained from the IPK genebank at Gatersleben, Germany, were screened for resistance undercontrolled conditions. Fourteen (8%) accessions were resistant to stem rust among which 10 were highly resistant(IT 5 ; and 1) and four exhibited a moderately resistance reaction (IT 5 2). From the synthetic hexaploids whichwere produced by hybridizing resistant Ae. tauschii with susceptible Triticum durum, six synthetics expressed ahigh level of stem rust resistance similar to their corresponding diploid parents, while five displayed either areduced or complete susceptibility compared to their Ae. tauschii parents. This suppression of resistance at thehexaploid level suggests the presence of suppressor genes in the A and/ or B genomes of the T. durum parents.Inheritance of resistance from crosses of five stem rust resistant synthetic hexaploids with two susceptible T.aestivum genotypes revealed that three of the synthetics (syn 101, syn 601 and syn 801) possessed one dominantgene each, syn 111 has two different dominant genes and syn 116 has two complementary interacting genes forstem rust resistance. Intercrosses among the four stem rust resistant synthetic hexaploids indicated that the putativegenes conferring stem rust resistance in each of the synthetics are neither allelic nor closely linked to each other.     

Karyotypic and genome size variation in Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp. (pigeonpea) and some wild relatives

Detailed karyotypes and 4C DNA amounts have been studied in five cultivars of Cajanus cajan and 20 species belonging to Cajanus, Rhynchosia, Dunbaria, Flemingia and Paracalyx. C. cajan shows intraspecific variability and its karyotype is most similar to that of C. cajanifolius (sect. Cajanus) in the morphology and number of satellite chromosomes and the lack of any correlation between chromosome size within the complement and asymmetry. Karyotypes of C. lineatus and C. sericeus belonging to sect. Atylia are similar with respect to maximum r-index and the ratio of longest and shortest chromosomes in their respective complements. C. acutifolius (sect. Frutocosa) is distinct in having a very low ratio (1.44) between the longest and the shortest chromosomes, while in C. albicans, C. goensis, C. scarabaeoides (sect. Cantharospermum) there is no chromosome pair with r-index >2.0. C. mollis and C. volubilis (sect. Volubilis) show similarity with regard to ratio between the longest and the shortest chromosomes and a distinct chromosome pair with an arm ratio of 2.7 and C. platycarpus is distinct (sect. Rhynchosoides) in having the smallest ratio (1.36) between the longest and the shortest chromosomes. 4C DNA amounts in Cajanus and Rhynchosia vary between 3.28 pg to 11.69 pg and 4.92 pg to 11.13 pg respectively, while in Dunbaria, Flemingia and Paracalyx these vary between 4.70 and 7:06 pg. In the genus Cajanus karyotypic features and 4C DNA amounts agree with the sectional classification and bring out a close relationship between C. cajan and C. cajanifolius. This is supported by studies based on seed protein patterns, isozyme analysis, trypsin and chymotrypsin inhibitor patterns, RFLP and RAPD data and crossability relationships. A clear relation between DNA amount and abnormalities effecting the extent of pairing and recombination in interspecific hybrids shows the importance of this study in developing future breeding programme involving C. cajan and its wild relatives that are of potential value.     

Phenotypic responses of the wild wheat relative Aegilops geniculata Roth and wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) to experimentally imposed salt stress

In order to study the salt effect on the wild wheat and durum wheat, three accessions of Aegilops geniculata L. from Ain zana, Zaghouan, and Sbitla and one variety of wheat (Triticum durum L.) have been grown in the INRAT green house and treated with different salt concentrations. The morphological, phenological and yield characters have been measured for each plant and analyzed using SAS software. This study has shown a high degree of variation of these characters mainly related to geographical origin. It was observed also that Sbitla accession was less affected by the imposed salt stress than all the others while Ain zana was the most affected one.     

Transfer of leaf rust and stripe rust resistance from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aegilops umbellulata</Emphasis> Zhuk. to bread wheat (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Triticum aestivum</Emphasis> L.)

Aegilops umbellulata acc. 3732, an excellent source of resistance to major wheat diseases, was used for transferring leaf rust and stripe rust resistance to cultivated wheat. An amphiploid between Ae. umbellulata acc. 3732 and Triticum durum cv. WH890 was crossed with cv. Chinese Spring Ph ^I to induce homoeologous pairing between Ae. umbellulata and wheat chromosomes. The F₁ was crossed to the susceptible Triticum aestivum cv. ‘WL711’ and leaf rust and stripe rust resistant plants were selected among the backcross progenies. Homozygous lines were selected and screened against six Puccinia triticina and four Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici pathotypes at the seedling stage and a mixture of prevalent pathotypes of both rust pathogens at the adult plant stage. Genomic in situ hybridization in some of the selected introgression lines detected two lines with complete Ae. umbellulata chromosomes. Depending on the rust reactions and allelism tests, the introgression lines could be classified into two groups, comprising of lines with seedling leaf rust resistance gene Lr9 and with new seedling leaf rust and stripe rust resistance genes. Inheritance studies detected an additional adult plant leaf rust resistance gene in one of the introgression lines. A minimum of three putatively new genes—two for leaf rust resistance (LrU1 and LrU2) and one for stripe rust resistance (YrU1) have been introgressed into wheat from Ae. umbellulata. Two lines with no apparent linkage drag have been identified. These lines could serve as sources of resistance to leaf rust and stripe rust in breeding programs.     

Evaluation of shape Aegilops tauschii Coss for resistance to physiological strains CYR30 and CYR31 of wheat stripe rust in China

Stripe rust is one of the most serious diseases of wheat in China. Two new stripe rust physiological strains CYR₃₀ (Inter. name: 175 E 191) and CYR₃₁ (Inter. name: 239 E 175) have become the dominant and epidemic physiological strains since 1994 in China. Resistance to these strains of 48 Ae. tauschii accessions was evaluated at the seedling and adult stages. Out of 48, 28 accessions displayed seedling and adult resistance. All of the Chinese Ae. tauschii accessions were susceptible at seedling and adult stages. Seedling resistance was highly related to adult resistance in Ae. tauschii. The new genetic resources of resistance to CYR₃₀ and CYR₃₁ could be incorporated into commercial wheat varieties for wheat resistance breeding by direct hybridization.     

Exploring genetic diversity and potential novel disease resistance genes in a collection of rice (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Oryza</Emphasis> spp.) wild relatives

Wild relatives of rice (Oryza spp.) are an important source of novel resistance (R-)genes for rice improvement. Rice sheath blight, caused by Rhizotonia solani, and leaf blast, caused by Magnaportha oryzae, are major fungal diseases of rice worldwide. To identify novel R-genes, a group of Oryza spp. accessions represented by O. alta, O. australiensis, O. barthii, O. glaberrima, O. glumaepatula, O. latifolia, O. meridionolis, O. nivara, O. officinalis, and O. rufipogon, were evaluated for their reaction to leaf blast and sheath blight disease, and genotyped with 176 microsatellite (SSR) markers. Selected rice (O. sativa) accessions were included as reference. Cluster analysis performed with PowerMarker software using Rogers genetic distance and UPGMA, revealed most Oryza spp. accessions clustered with the same species or a closely related Oryza spp. Only a few Oryza spp. accessions grouped with the O. sativa accessions included as a reference. Analysis of this genotypic data in the software Structure revealed that the Oryza spp. accessions were assigned into eight different subpopulations and fit well into eight different backgrounds. Marker-trait associations between the SSR markers and disease reactions to blast and sheath blight were ascertained using the software TASSEL. Associations with blast disease were identified in ten different chromosomal regions and five of the ten were not located near known blast R-genes. Three associations were discovered with sheath blight disease and one was not near previously reported sheath blight QTL. These newly identified regions may represent novel R-genes that will be the basis future fine mapping studies. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Morphological and isozyme variation in genebank accessionsof Aegilops umbellulata Zhuk., a wild relative of wheat

Morphological variation and genetic variation at 15 enzyme lociwere studied in genebank accessions of Aegilopsumbellulata Zhuk., the diploid genome donor to all thepolyploid species of the section Aegilops ofAegilops. Accessions from the Greek Islands hadshorter spikes with smaller number of spikelets and smaller number ofawns on the empty glume. The number of alleles per locus (A= 2.01) and the proportion of polymorphic loci (P= 0.627) were similar to those of the other species ofAegilops so far reported. Genetic distancescalculated from isozyme variations among five regions revealed thataccessions from the Greek Islands are more distantly related to theother four continental regions, Iran and Iraq, Southeast Turkey,Central Turkey and South and West Turkey. The present resultsindicated the importance of collection covering the whole range ofgeographical distribution to capture the genetic variation present inAe. umbellulata.     

冬小麦条锈病单叶光谱特性及严重度反演

对冬小麦条锈病胁迫不同严重度(0、1%、10%、20%、30%、45%、60%和80%)的单叶进行光谱测定,其光谱特征明显,随严重度增加,单叶光谱反射率在可见光550～740 nm处增加,差异显著;而近红外平台750～1340 nm反射率也呈上升趋势,差异不显著;中红外1350～1600 nm反射率上升,差异显著.反射率与严重度相关系数在376～1600 nm范围内基本成正相关,达到极显著相关的敏感波段区域为446～725 nm与1380～1600 nm.入选了493、666 nm和1430 nm与严重度的相关系数最高的单个波段,利用相关性最好的666 nm和相关性最弱的758 nm波段组合设计了光谱角度指数SAI(Spectral Angle Index),与严重度建立的模型相关系数较高.并利用连续统去除法对540～740 nm特征反射峰进行归一化定量分析,吸收深度(Depth)与吸收面积(Area)与严重度呈极显著相关,设计的吸收面积指数AAI(Absorption Area Index)与严重度相关系数最好,可较好地反演单叶严重度.结果表明,条锈病单叶光谱特性明显,利用其光谱反射率可以很好的估算单叶严重度,建立的模型具有很高的反演精度.结果对深入研究冬小麦条锈病害遥感监测机理提供了理论依据.     

Antioxidant capacity and phenolic content in leaf extracts of tree spinach (Cnidoscolus spp.)

Total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity of two tree spinach species (Cnidoscolus chayamansa McVaugh and C. aconitifolius Miller.) were determined in raw and cooked leaf extracts. Antioxidant capacity was assessed by the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay, and flavonoid glycoside composition was quantified by HPLC and identified by GC. Total phenolics and antioxidant capacity were higher in raw than in cooked leaf extracts. The ORAC values were strongly correlated with total phenolic content (r = 0.926) in all leaf extracts. The major flavonoids isolated from the leaf extracts were kaempferol-3-O-glycosides and quercetin-3-O-glycosides. C. aconitifolius leaves contained more varieties of the flavonoid glycosides than C. chayamansa. Cooking reduced antioxidant activity and phenolic content and resulted in losses of some kaempferol glycoside and quercetin glycoside residues in leaf extracts. The results of this study indicate that tree spinach leaves are a rich source of natural antioxidants for foods.     

Identification of powdery mildew and leaf rust resistance genes in common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Wheat varieties from the Caucasus, Central and Inner Asia

225 wheat varieties from Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Russia were analysed for their resistance to powdery mildew and leaf rust diseases. A set of 11 different Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici isolates was used to test for powdery mildew resistance and a set of 10 different Puccinia triticina isolates for leaf rust. 115 cultivars/lines were susceptible to powdery mildew and 32 cultivars/lines showed an intermediate resistance response. 21 cultivars/lines revealed the response pattern of individual resistance genes Pm1, Pm2, Pm3, pm5, Pm6, Pm8, Pm9, Pm17 and Pm22, respectively, therefrom three line showed a combination of two resistance genes and two varieties a combination of three genes. 50 cultivars/lines showed resistance to some specific isolates but an assignment to known resistance genes or gene combinations was not possible, whereas seven lines were completely resistant to all used isolates. The leaf rust test showed that 83 cultivars/lines were susceptible and 11 lines revealed intermediate resistance response. 62 cultivars/lines could be assumed to possess major resistance genes Lr1, Lr3, Lr10, Lr23 and Lr26, respectively, therefrom seven cultivars possessed a combination of two resistance genes. Lr3 was the most widespread resistance gene, occurring in 42 cultivars/lines. 13 lines were completely resistant to all used isolates, however, the response patterns of 56 cultivars/lines did not match to any known gene or gene combination. In 13 varieties the T1BL·1RS wheat-rye translocation could be identified, in five cultivars resistance gene Pm8 was suppressed.     

Evaluation for resistance to Pyrenophora tritici-repentis in Aegilops tauschii Coss. and synthetic hexaploid wheat amphiploids

Summary A total of 59 diploid Aegilops tauschii Coss. (syn. Aegilops sguarrosa auct. non L.) and 39 synthetic hexaploid wheat accessions were evaluated for reaction to Pyrenophora tritici-repentis (Died.) Drechs. in a controlled environment, and classified using a disease rating system based on lesion type. 27 Ae. tauschii and 20 synthetic wheats were found to be resistant to tan spot disease. The overall mean disease ratings of Ae. tauschii and the synthetic wheat lines scored on a scale of 1 (resistant) to 5 (susceptible) were 1.80 and 2.38, respectively. Synthetic wheats generally showed a decrease in resistance, although several lines of synthetic wheat expressed a higher resistance than the diploid parents. Five synthetic wheat lines exhibited higher resistance than the standard resistant common wheat cultivar Red Chief.     

Molecular characterization of the wild relatives of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) in Turkey as revealed by ISSRs

In the present study, we used 39 plant samples representing six Carthamus taxa collected from different regions of Turkey: 11 of C. dentatus, 5 of C. glaucus, 18 of C. lanatus, 3 of C. persicus, 1 of C. tenuis subsp. tenuis and 1 of C. tenuis subsp. gracillimus. On these samples, we screened nine ISSR markers for polymorphic products. We generated 151 polymorphic bands. In a dendrogram based on these ISSR bands, the first branch was C. tenuis subsp. gracillimus, then C. persicus formed the second group. The rest of the taxa were grouped in two clusters: the first included C. lanatus, C. tenuis subsp. tenuis and C. glaucus, and the second included C. dentatus. Within the first cluster, C. tenuis subsp. tenuis and C. glaucus grouped together and then united to C. lanatus. Representatives of the same taxa consistently clustered together. Also within species, the groupings were generally concordant with their geographical distributions.     

Inheritance in hexaploid wheat of genes for hairy auricles and hairy leaf sheath derived from Aegilops tauschii Coss.

Inheritance of genes for hairy auricles and hairy leaf sheath of Ae. tauschii in hexaploid wheat backgrounds (synthetic hexaploid wheat and common wheat varieties) was analyzed. The results indicated that hairy auricles and hairy leaf sheath of Ae. tauschii can be transferred and are expressed in hexaploid wheat. In a synthetic hexaploid wheat ('Ae. tauschii' 188) hairy auricles was proved to be controlled by a single dominant gene derived from Ae. tauschii, which was different from the Pa gene located on chromosome 4BS of common wheat. The hairy leaf sheath phenotype of 'Altar 84/Ae. tauschii 188' was also controlled by a single dominant gene derived from Ae. tauschii, which is obviously different from the Hls gene in T. dicoccoides. We suggest to designate the Ae. tauschii genes for hairy auricles and hairy leaf sheath as Pa2 and Hls2, respectively; such genes could be used as useful genetic markers in common wheat.     

Genetic diversity assessment of Ethiopian tetraploid wheat landraces and improved durum wheat varieties using microsatellites and markers linked with stem rust resistance

A set of 77 markers was used to describe the genetic diversity in a group of 58 tetraploid wheat accessions. Analysis was performed using 31 neutral SSR markers, 31 SSR/STS markers linked with reported major stem rust resistance genes and 15 SSR markers linked with QTL identified for resistance to Ethiopian stem rust races of Puccinia graminis Pers. f. sp. tritici Eriks. et E. Henn. (Pgt),including Ug99. The material consisted of 32 (Triticum durum s.l. incl. T. aethiopicum Jakubz., Triticum turgidum and Triticum polonicum) landraces and 22 registered T. durum varieties from Ethiopia that were released 1966–2009 and four T. durum varieties from ICARDA. A total of 720 alleles were detected. Considering the three marker sets, the mean number of alleles was higher for major stem rust resistance gene linked markers (9.9) followed by neutral SSR markers (9.2) and markers linked with QTL for stem rust resistance (8.5). Dendrograms derived from UPGMA analysis grouped the accessions into two major clusters. The principal component analysis based on the combination of the three marker sets formed three groups. The 1st group was composed of all the improved varieties, whereas the 2nd and the 3rd group contained the landraces. All the landraces that formed the 3rd group were susceptible to Ethiopian stem rust races of Pgt including Ug99. The information on the extent of the genetic diversity of the improved varieties obtained in this investigation will be helpful for developing appropriate breeding strategies to broadening the genetic base of durum wheat varieties in further breeding programmes.     

Focused identification of germplasm strategy (FIGS) detects wheat stem rust resistance linked to environmental variables

Recent studies have shown that novel genetic variation for resistance to pests and diseases can be detected in plant genetic resources originating from locations with an environmental profile similar to the collection sites of a reference set of accessions with known resistance, based on the Focused Identification of Germplasm Strategy (FIGS) approach. FIGS combines both the development of a priori information based on the quantification of the trait-environment relationship and the use of this information to define a best bet subset of accessions with a higher probability of containing new variation for the sought after trait(s). The present study investigates the development strategy of the a priori information using different modeling techniques including learning-based techniques as a follow up to previous work where parametric approaches were used to quantify the stem rust resistance and climate variables relationship. The results show that the predictive power, derived from the accuracy parameters and cross-validation, varies depending on whether the models are based on linear or non-linear approaches. The prediction based on learning techniques are relatively higher indicating that the non-linear approaches, in particular support vector machine and neural networks, outperform both principal component logistic regression and generalized partial least squares. Overall there are indications that the trait distribution of resistance to stem rust is confined to certain environments or areas, whereas the susceptible types appear to be limited to other areas with some degree of overlapping of the two classes. The results also point to a number of issues to consider for improving the predictive performance of the models.