Breeding of bread wheat for leaf rust resistance in Russia

Abstract

Leaf rust, caused by the fungus Puccinia triticina Erikss., is one of the most common diseases of wheat in Russia. The paper reviews Lr-genes diversity in Russian commercial wheat varieties. Two hundred and sixty-four winter and one hundred and forty-three spring wheat varieties indexed by the State Register of Breeding Achievements in 2005-2018 were studied. It was found that among new varieties, as many as 5% of winter wheat and 30% of spring wheat possess effective seedling resistance. The wide presence of Lr19 and Lr9 genes was detected in the spring wheat. Besides, the high resistance to leaf rust was found in spring wheat varieties with new alien Lr genes (originated from Thinopyrum intermedium (Host) Barkworth & D.R. Dewey and Aegilops speltoides Tausch. Over 40% of winter wheat varieties have different levels of field resistance as well. The molecular screening revealed three varieties with effective adult plant resistance gene Lr37. Other winter wheat varieties include a range of ineffective genes (Lr1, Lr3, Lr10, Lr26, and Lr34), alone or in various combinations.