Molecular cytogenetic identification of a wheat–rye 1R addition line with multiple spikelets and resistance to powdery mildew

Alien addition lines are important for transferring useful genes from alien species into common wheat. Rye is an important and valuable gene resource for improving wheat disease resistance, yield, and environment adaptation. A new wheat–rye addition line, N9436B, was developed from the progeny of the cross of common wheat (Triticum aestivum L., 2n = 6x = 42, AABBDD) cultivar Shaanmai 611 and rye (Secale cereal L., 2n = 2x = 14, RR) accession Austrian rye. We characterized this new line by cytology, genomic in situ hybridization (GISH), fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), molecular markers, and disease resistance screening. N9436B was stable in morphology and cytology, with a chromosome composition of 2n = 42 + 2t = 22II. GISH investigations showed that this line contained two rye chromosomes. GISH, FISH, and molecular maker identification suggested that the introduced R chromosome and the missing wheat chromosome arms were 1R chromosome and 2DL chromosome arm, respectively. N9436B exhibited 30–37 spikelets per spike and a high level of resistance to powdery mildew (Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici, Bgt) isolate E09 at the seedling stage. N9436B was cytologically stable, had the trait of multiple spikelets, and was resistant to powdery mildew; this line should thus be useful in wheat improvement.

Characterization of wheat – Secale africanum introgression lines reveals evolutionary aspects of chromosome 1R in rye

Wild Secale species, Secale africanum Stapf., serve as a valuable source for increasing the diversity of cultivated rye (Secale cereale L.) and provide novel genes for wheat improvement. New wheat – S. africanum chromosome 1Rafr addition, 1Rafr(1D) substitution, 1BL.1RafrS and 1DS.1RafrL translocation, and 1RafrL monotelocentric addition lines were identified by chromosome banding and in situ hybridization. Disease resistance screening revealed that chromosome 1RafrS carries resistance gene(s) to new stripe rust races. Twenty-nine molecular markers were localized on S. africanum chromosome 1Rafr by the wheat – S. africanum introgression lines. Twenty markers can also identically amplify other reported wheat – S. cereale chromosome 1R derivative lines, indicating that there is high conservation between the wild and cultivated Secale chromosome 1R. Nine markers displayed polymorphic amplification between S. africanum and S. cereale chromosome 1Rafr derivatives. The comparison of the nucleotide sequences of these polymorphic markers suggested that gene duplication and sequence divergence may have occurred among Secale species during its evolution and domestication.

Variation in Septoria musiva and Implications for Disease Resistance Screening of Poplars

A set of isolates of Septoria musiva differed in aggressiveness in hybrid poplar leaf disk and stem assays and culture growth in vitro. Clone × isolate interactions were observed in one of the stem assay experiments, but not in the leaf disk assay experiments. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analyses were performed using 52 isolates of S. musiva collected from hybrid poplars and a native poplar species in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota. There was a large degree of genetic similarity, although each isolate had a unique RAPD pattern. No relationships among isolates were found for molecular genetic distance and host clone, parentage, or taxonomic classification section; location or date of collection; or the previously determined level of field resistance of the host clones to Septoria canker. Results of the stem and leaf disk assays indicate that it may not be necessary to choose the most aggressive isolate for disease resistance screening. It may be more useful to select isolates that will discriminate the greatest variation in levels of disease resistance among the clones that are being screened.

Improving Fiji disease resistance screening trials in sugarcane by considering virus transmission class and possible origin of Fiji disease virus

Fiji disease virus is a propagative, persistently transmitted virus that multiplies in species of the delphacid planthopper genus Perkinsiella, and in sugarcane, the feeding host of the insect. Efforts to improve and modify the disease rating system for Fiji disease have largely focussed on the planthopper as individual vectors of the virus, rather than as a population of the principal, or at least an alternative, host of the virus. This perspective has resulted in key parameters of disease incidence resulting from plant infection by propagative, persistently transmitted viruses being largely overlooked or misunderstood during efforts to improve the rating system. These parameters include the relatively long acquisition, latency, and transmission times, the percentage of the population containing virus, or viruliferous, in the above periods, and the effects of population density and number of plants visited on disease incidence. Suggestions to modify trial design to improve virus transmission to the plant, based on the disease incidence parameters of the propagative, persistent transmission class, are presented and the practical difficulties of implementing these proposals are discussed. In the context of fully understanding the underlying biology of this virus–insect–plant system, the hypothesis that Fiji disease virus, as a plant-infecting member of the Reoviridae, is primarily an insect virus with a secondary plant host, and may have diverged from an insect-infecting virus relatively recently is proposed and compared with other members of the family Reoviridae.

Sexual Stage Development of Uromyces appendiculatus and Its Potential Use for Disease Resistance Screening of Phaseolus vulgaris

In June 1989, pycnia and aecia of the bean rust pathogen were observed in eastern Colorado on volunteer plants of pinto bean cvs. UI 114 and UI 126 that grew from seed that remained in the field after harvest the previous season. Harvested aeciospores were viable and produced typical reddish-brown uredinia on unifoliolate leaves of UI 114 seedlings in the greenhouse. Evidence of bean rust overwintering has been confirmed in 10 years from 1989 to 2002 in eastern Colorado and the surrounding region. Overwintering conditions were reproduced at Fort Collins, CO in fall 1992 and spring 1993. Debris treatments had significantly higher disease incidence on stems, total number of lesions on stems, disease incidence on leaves, and total number of lesions on leaves of plants of pinto cvs. UI 114 and Olathe than plants without debris. Bean leaves of both cultivars had significantly higher disease incidence than stems. There also was an increased incidence of aecial infection for UI 114 seedlings that germinated through leaf debris with rust compared with stem debris under greenhouse conditions with abundant moisture. Bean leaf debris smaller than 0.36 mm in diameter resulted in significantly more aecial lesions on UI 114 than larger leaf debris and stem debris. Additional greenhouse experiments demonstrated that diverse collections of naturally occurring, overwintered, rust-infested bean debris from eastern Colorado produced different levels of pycnial and aecial infection on pinto cvs. UI 114, Olathe, and Chase. Chase, currently resistant to the uredinial stage of the prevalent bean rust races in Colorado and surrounding states, had a low incidence of aecial lesions on seedling stems when exposed to pycnial and aecial stages in the greenhouse. These observations indicate that selection of bean rust resistance genes should rely on multiple sources of resistant germ plasm to counter the potential increase in new races that could derive from sexual recombination in bean-production regions.