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ARS Home » Midwest Area » West Lafayette, Indiana » Crop Production and Pest Control Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #118720
Title: NOVEL GERMPLASM PROVIDING BYDV RESISTANCE IN WHEAT

Author
item FRANCKI, MICHAEL - UNIV OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
item OHM, HERBERT - PURDUE UNIVERSITY
item Anderson, Joseph

Submitted to: Australian Journal of Agricultural Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/11/2001
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: The most serious viral disease in wheat is caused by the group of viruses known as barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV), which can cause severe stunting, reduced grain yield, sterility and shriveled grain. Because wheat does not contain resistance genes to BYDV, related wild wheatgrass relatives that are completely resistant to BYDV have been used a source for resistance. Several breeding programs have been successful in integrating entire and subsequently portions of chromosomes from the wild wheatgrass relative Thinopyrum intermedium. The wheat germplasm resulting from approximately two decades of research is now resulting in the development of BYDV resistant commercial wheat varieties in the United States, Australia, The People's Republic of China and by the wheat breeding program at CYMMIT in Mexico. In conjunction with the development of resistant wheat lines, DNA markers are being developed that will greatly facilitate the generation of BYDV resistant commercial wheat varieties. This research will be used by plant breeders and other plant scientists to develop virus resistant wheat lines.

Technical Abstract: Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV) is regarded as the most significant viral pathogen in small grain cereals and its geographical distribution is prominent in Australia as it is world-wide. It has a wide host range and virus infection is often difficult to control in cereal crops. Although BYDV was first diagnosed in barley, other cereal crops including wheat can be severely infected. Management practices to control virus infection in wheat can be effective but are often difficult to implement or costly to the grower. An alternative is to breed wheat cultivars that inhibit replication of BYDV within the host. However, the lack of germplasm with suitable levels of resistance within the existing wheat pool has compelled breeding programs to exploit germplasm with high levels of resistance to BYDV from wild relatives. This review summarizes the research effort in the past two decades in developing wheat germplasm with high levels of resistance to BYDV. The development of strategies to introgress resistance from wild relatives, the physiological mechanisms and genetic basis for resistance to different strains of BYDV, and the molecular technologies to monitor the introgression of resistance from alien sources in wheat are described in this review.