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Key Message: Mapping studies confirm that resistance to Ug99 race of stem rust pathogen in Aegilops tauschii accession Clae 25 is conditioned by Sr46 and markers linked to the gene were developed for marker-assisted selection. The race TTKSK (Ug99) of Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici, the causal pathogen for wheat stem rust, is considered as a major threat to global wheat production. To address this threat, researchers across the world have been devoted to identifying TTKSK-resistant genes. Here, we report the identification and mapping of a stem rust resistance gene in Aegilops tauschii accession CIae 25 that confers resistance to TTKSK and the development of molecular markers for the gene. An F2 population of 710 plants from an Ae. tauschii cross CIae 25 × AL8/78 were first evaluated against race TPMKC. A set of 14 resistant and 116 susceptible F2:3 families from the F2 plants were then evaluated for their reactions to TTKSK. Based on the tests, 179 homozygous susceptible F2 plants were selected as the mapping population to identify the simple sequence repeat (SSR) and sequence tagged site (STS) markers linked to the gene by bulk segregant analysis. A dominant stem rust resistance gene was identified and mapped with 16 SSR and five new STS markers to the deletion bin 2DS5-0.47-1.00 of chromosome arm 2DS in which Sr46 was located. Molecular marker and stem rust tests on CIae 25 and two Ae. tauschii accessions carrying Sr46 confirmed that the gene in CIae 25 is Sr46. This study also demonstrated that Sr46 is temperature-sensitive being less effective at low temperatures. The marker validation indicated that two closely linked markers Xgwm210 and Xwmc111 can be used for marker-assisted selection of Sr46 in wheat breeding programs.

Wheat expressed sequence tags (wESTs) were identified in a genomic interval predicted to span the Lr34/Yr18 slow rusting region on chromosome 7DS and that corresponded to genes located in the syntenic region of rice chromosome 6 (between 2.02 and 2.38 Mb). A subset of the wESTs was also used to identify corresponding bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones from the diploid D genome of wheat (Aegilops tauschii). Conservation and deviation of micro-colinearity within blocks of genes were found in the D genome BACs relative to the orthologous sequences in rice. Extensive RFLP analysis using the wEST derived clones as probes on a panel of wheat genetic stocks with or without Lr34/Yr18 revealed monomorphic patterns as the norm in this region of the wheat genome. A similar pattern was observed with single nucleotide polymorphism analysis on a subset of the wEST derived clones and subclones from corresponding D genome BACs. One exception was a wEST derived clone that produced a consistent RFLP pattern that distinguished the Lr34/Yr18 genetic stocks and well-established cultivars known either to possess or lack Lr34/Yr18. Conversion of the RFLP to a codominant sequence tagged site (csLV34) revealed a bi-allelic locus, where a variant size of 79 bp insertion in an intron sequence was associated with lines or cultivars that lacked Lr34/Yr18. This association with Lr34/Yr18 was validated in wheat cultivars from diverse backgrounds. Genetic linkage between csLV34 and Lr34/Yr18 was estimated at 0.4 cM.

The incorporation of effective and durable disease resistance is an important breeding objective for wheat improvement. The leaf rust resistance gene Lr34 and stripe rust resistance gene Yr18 are effective at the adult plant stage and have provided moderate levels of durable resistance to leaf rust caused by Puccinia triticina Eriks. and to stripe rust caused by Puccinia striiformis Westend. f. sp. tritici. These genes have not been separated by recombination and map to chromosome 7DS in wheat. In a population of 110 F(7) lines derived from a Thatcher x Thatcher isogenic line with Lr34/Yr18, field resistance to leaf rust conferred by Lr34 and to stripe rust resistance conferred by Yr18 cosegregated with adult plant resistance to powdery mildew caused by Blumeria graminis (DC) EO Speer f. sp. tritici. Lr34 and Yr18 were previously shown to be associated with enhanced stem rust resistance and tolerance to barley yellow dwarf virus infection. This chromosomal region in wheat has now been linked with resistance to five different pathogens. The Lr34/Yr18 phenotypes and associated powdery mildew resistance were mapped to a single locus flanked by microsatellite loci Xgwm1220 and Xgwm295 on chromosome 7DS.

We report the map location of the scald resistance gene, Rrs13, from wild barley (Hordeum vulgare ssp. spontaneum) with respect to RFLP loci on barley chromosome 6 (= 6H). The identification of two RFLP loci (Cxp3 and ABG458) flanking the Rrs13 locus will assist selection for the resistant allele in barley breeding programs.

The 5S DNA sequences in Triticum tauschii are organised in large clusters containing units that are primarily either 420 ("short") or 490 base pairs (bp) in length ("long"). The main cluster of short units was shown to be located on chromosome 1D in hexaploid wheat and is designated 5SDna-D1, while the cluster of long units was shown to be on chromosome 5D and is designated 5SDna-D2. The chromosomal locations in hexaploid wheat most likely correspond to those in T. tauschii and this could be shown directly for the 5SDna-D2 locus by using a T. tauschii 5D substitution in 'Chinese Spring' wheat. The sequence alignment of units derived from 5SDna-D1 and 5SDna-D2 revealed three apparent deletions in the noncoding spacer region, which were fixed in units from 5SDna-D1, and one deletion, which was fixed in units from 5SDna-D2. A minor size class, 400 bp long and closely related to the units from 5SDna-D1, was found in 2 of 415 accessions surveyed. A continuous range of quantitative changes in the number of 5S DNA units at the two loci was evident with up to a 10-fold relative abundance level of units being found in some accessions. Triticum tauschii var. typica was particularly noteworthy in that many accessions showed more units at 5SDna-D2 relative to 5SDna-D1. Partial thermal dissociation experiments with radioactive probes, synthesized from either the short or long 5S DNA units, hybridized to genomic DNA showed that the population of units at the respective loci were relatively homogeneous and clearly distinct from each other.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)