Sr2

A key objective of BGRI is to breed high yielding, stem rust resistant spring wheat germplasm suitable for releases as successful varieties in wheat growing countries of Africa, Middle East, Asia and Latin America. High emphasis was given to select adult plant resistance (APR) to stem rust in achieving this goal that is especially important in East African highlands where various variants belonging to the Ug99 race group and other lineages of stem rust fungus are now known, disease is endemic and present throughout the year on wheat crops. Recent molecular mapping studies show that combinations of partially effective APR gene Sr2 with 3 to 4 additional APR genes such as Sr55, Sr56, Sr57, Sr58 and other undesignated quantitative trait loci confer adequate to high levels of resistance to stem rust. A ‘Mexico-Kenya shuttle breeding scheme’ was initiated in 2008 to select APR to stem rust under high disease pressures at Njoro, Kenya while selecting for resistance to other rusts, yield, agronomic and quality traits in Mexico. This selection scheme, combined with phenotyping of advanced lines for multiple seasons in Kenya has resulted in identifying a small frequency of high yielding lines that possess a high level of resistance with a stable and low stem rust severity performance over seasons/locations under high disease pressures. These near-immune wheat lines are the best candidates for release in East Africa to achieve durable disease control and simultaneously curtail, or reduce, further selection of new virulences. A significantly higher proportion of wheat lines were also developed with moderate levels of resistance that is considered suitable for deployment in wheat growing areas where rust builds up later in the season. The worldwide distribution of the wheat lines derived from Mexico-Kenya shuttle breeding initiated in 2012 through the international yield trials and nurseries from CIMMYT. Potential releases and cultivation of these lines in different countries together with a reduction in area sown to susceptible varieties are expected to reduce the threat from stem rust.

Durable resistance to wheat stem rust fungus can Be achieved by developing and deploying varieties that have race-nonspecific, adult plant resistance (APR) conferred by multiple minor, slow rusting genes. Wheat lines ‘Kingbird, ‘Kiritati’, ‘Huirivis#1’, ‘Juchi’, ‘Muu’ and ‘Pavon 76’ showed high levels of APR to Ug99 races of stem rust fungus when tested in Kenya. The F5 and F6 generation recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations developed from the crosses of moderately susceptible ‘PBW343’ with five resistant parents were used in mapping. The non-Sr26 fraction of the ‘Avocet’ x Pavon 76 RIL population, developed earlier for leaf rust and stripe rust resistance studies, was also included. Field phenotyping of the parents and RILs were conducted at Njoro, Kenya for at least two years with Ug99+Sr24 (TTKST) race under high stem rust pressures. The continuous variation of APR in each RIL population and genetic analyses indicated quantitative nature of resistance that was likely governed by 3 or 4 minor genes. Single and joint year analyses by Inclusive Composite Interval Mapping (ICIM) using informative DArT and/or SSR markers identified consistent APR QTLs on chromosomes 1AL, 3BS, 5BL, 7A and 7DS in Kingbird; 2D, 3BS, 5BL and 7DS in Kiritati; 2B, 3BS, 4A, 5BL and 6B in Juchi; 2B, 3BS, 7B in Huirivis#1; 2B, 3BS and 5BL in Muu; and 1BL, 3BS, 5A and 6B in Pavon 76. QTLs on each genomic regions explained 10- 46% of the phenotypic variation for APR. Pseudo-black chaff phenotype associated with APR gene Sr2 on chromosome 3BS in all six resistant parents and identification of an APR QTL in the same region in all mapping populations confirmed the role of Sr2 in reducing stem rust severity. The 1BL QTL in Pavon 76 was in the same region where pleiotropic APR gene Lr46/Yr29/Pm39 is located. Similarly a 7DS QTL in Kingbird and Huirivis#1 was in the chromosomal region where pleiotropic APR gene Lr34/Yr18/Pm38 is located. These results indicate that the above two pleiotropic resistance genes confer APR to stem rust in addition to leaf rust, yellow rust and powdery mildew. Further studies are underway to saturate the genomic regions harboring new APR QTLs with additional molecular markers.