Inheritance and molecular mapping of leaf rust resistance in Triticum turgidum var. durum cv. Trinakria

Abstract

Leaf rust of wheat, caused by Puccinia triticina Eriks. is the most regularly occurring rust disease that can cause severe yield losses. Due to relatively lower economic value of durum wheat compared to the common wheat, genetic analysis of leaf rust resistance in durum wheat has been carried out only to a limited extent. Durum wheat genotype Trinakria showed high level and broad spectrum seedling resistance to 18 Indian leaf rust pathotypes. Genetic analysis at seedling stage in F2 and BC1 populations using leaf rust pathotype 77-5 showed a single dominant gene for resistance. The leaf rust resistance gene was mapped to the short arm of 5B chromosome and Xgwm234 was the closest marker at a distance of 6.3cM. The leaf rust resistance gene present in Trinakria is tentatively named as LrTrk. In durum wheat very few Lr genes have been documented, and hence Trinakria could be a promising source of leaf rust resistance for wheat breeders. The Xgwm234 marker linked to leaf rust resistance can be used for transfer of leaf rust resistance from Trinakria to other wheat cultivars through marker assisted selection.