GENETICS OF LEAF RUST RESISTANCE IN 13 ACCESSIONS OF THE WATKINS WHEAT COLLECTION

The inheritance of leaf rust resistance was studied in 13 accessions of the A.E. Watkins wheat collection. Eight of the accessions (V409, V624, V628, V712, V731, V734, V745, and V855) were shown to have gene Lr33 and four of these (V409, V624, V628, and V731) also have LrW. Accessions V624 and V338 have LrB, and V377 and V488 have Lr11. V46 has an unidentified gene that gives an intermediate level of resistance. V860 has a partially dominant gene that gives a fleck reaction to avirulent isolates in the seedling stage. This gene is different from LrW and may be previously unidentified. It has been assigned the temporary gene symbol LrW2. In addition to seedling-effective genes, V46, V731, and V745 may have Lr34 and V745 may have Lr13. The adult-plant resistance in V488, V624, and V860 could not be identified. Seedling gene LrW2 and some of the adult-plant resistance should be useful sources of resistance.