INHERITANCE OF LEAF RUST AND STEM RUST RESISTANCE IN ROBLIN WHEAT

The Canadian common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar 'Roblin' is resistant to both leaf rust (Puccinia recondita Rob. ex. Desm.) and stem rust (Puccinia graminis Pers. f. sp. tritici Eriks. and E. Henn.). To study the genetics of this resistance, 'Roblin' was crossed with 'Thatcher', a leaf rust susceptible cultivar, and RL6071, a stem rust susceptible line. A set of F6 random lines was developed from each cross. The random lines and the parents were grown in a field rust nursery artificially inoculated with a mixture of P. recondita and P graminis isolates and scored for rust reaction. The same material was tested with specific races of leaf rust and stem rust. These data indicated that 'Roblin' has Lr1, Lr10, Lr13, and Lr34 for resistance to P. recondita and Sr5, Sr9b, Sr11, and possibly Sr7a and Sr12 for resistance to P. graminis. In a 'Thatcher' background, the presence of Lr34 contributes to improve stem rust resistance, which appears also to occur in 'Roblin'.