Inter-varietal chromosome substitution lines in wheat - Revisited

The difficulties in developing inter-varietal chromosome substitution lines in wheat are reviewed. The use of genetical, cytological and molecular markers is suggested as a way of overcoming them. These difficulties and the use of markers, as well as the need to develop duplicate lines to detect background variation, are described using the development and analysis of the Cappelle-Desprez (Bezostaya 1) chromosome substitution set as an example. The effects of substituting Bezostaya 1 chromosomes on final plant height and adult-plant resistance to yellow rust are reported. The large number of aneuploids and substitution lines available in wheat provides a tremendous, international resource, which should be exploited in the future.