Disease and Pest Resistance of 6 Synthetic Wheat Lines.

Synthetic wheat results when durum wheat (Triticum turgidum) is hybridized with the D genome donor T. tauschii of common wheat (T. aestivum). The product is a recreation of common bread wheat that has novel genetic variation. The objective of this study was to characterize disease and pest reactions of 6 synthetic wheat lines previously selected on drought tolerance potential. Additionally, these lines were crossed to modern wheat cultivars ‘Goodstreak’ and ‘Hatcher’ to study agronomic potential. Lines were tested for resistance to stem rust using multiple isolates of (Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici), Triticum mosaic virus, wheat streak mosaic virus, leaf rust (P. triticina), stripe rust (P. striiformis), fusarium head blight (Fusarium graminearum), multiple powdery mildew (Blumeria graminis) isolates, Russian wheat aphid (Diuraphis noxis) biotypes 1 and 2, Hessian fly (Mayetiola destructor), and greenbug (Schizaphis graminum) biotypes E, I, and K. Results show an array of reactions, with no single line having a suite of resistances. Of interest, two of the synthetic lines, PI 648810 and NSGC 9711, had complete resistance to greenbug biotype E, I and K. F1, F2 and BC1F2 material of NSGC 9711/Goodstreak were further studied for inheritance. All 5 of 5 F1, 101 of 160 F2s, and 18 of 40 BC1F2 NSGC 9711/Goodstreak families were resistant. These numbers suggest one single dominant gene in NSGC 9711 confers resistance to greenbug biotype E.