A controlled environment test for resistance to Soil-borne cereal mosaic virus (SBCMV) and its use to determine the mode of inheritance of resistance in wheat cv. Cadenza and for screening Triticum monococcum genotypes for sources of SBCMV resistance

Several wheat genotypes, including eight with known field responses, were evaluated for their reaction to Soil-borne cereal mosaic virus (SBCMV, genus Furovirus) by growing in naturally infested soil under controlled environment conditions. Virus antigen titres in the foliage 8–9 weeks after sowing mostly reflected the field responses, showing that growth chamber-based tests can be used to improve the speed and reliability of germplasm screening. Such tests were used to determine the mode of inheritance of the SBCMV resistance in cv. Cadenza, commonly used in UK wheat-breeding programmes. One hundred and eleven doubled haploid (DH) lines derived from an F ₁ of a cross between cvs Cadenza (resistant) and Avalon (susceptible) were evaluated. This DH population segregated for the reaction to SBCMV in a ratio of 1 : 1 (resistant : susceptible). This suggests that the SBCMV resistance is controlled by a single gene locus. As a first step towards identification of new sources of improved SBCMV resistance (e.g. immunity) as well as sources of the resistance to the virus vector, Polymyxa graminis , a set of 26 Triticum monococcum lines of diverse geographical origin was also screened. Most lines were susceptible to SBCMV, but one line of Bulgarian origin was resistant to the virus and possibly partially resistant to the virus vector.