Breeding and evaluation of winter barley varieties for group resistance to smut diseases

Abstract

The problem of the immunity of winter barley varieties to smut diseases is still topical in agricultural practice. The first varieties bred by the Plant Breeding and Genetics Institute–National Center of Seed and Cultivar Investigation (Ukraine) that displayed integrated resistance to smut diseases were Zimovyi (2005), Dostoinyi, Trudivnyk, Selena Star, and Aborigen (2006). They were followed by Akademichnyi, Aivengo (2012), Burevii (2013), Snigova koroleva (2014), and Devyatyi val (2015). All these varieties were bred with the involvement of c.i. 13664 and Dzhau Kabutak as donors; however, the nature of this group resistance still remained vague. The goal of this work was to study the problem of smut diseases of winter barley in Southern Ukraine, in particular, to clarify the nature of the group resistance to false loose smut and covered smut conferred by c.i. 13664 and Dzhau Kabutak and to obtain new highly productive plant material resistant to smut diseases. This study has shown that the yield loss caused by direct and hidden components can reach 44.1%, depending on the level of the susceptibility/resistance of a cultivar. The monogenic dominant control of the resistance to false loose smut and covered smut has been demonstrated. The share of recombinants in F2 of a dihybrid test cross is 5.1–9.5%. This suggests an incomplete linkage in the inheritance of the resistance genes. A natural infection with the local populations of the false loose smut (Ustilago nigra) and covered smut (U. hordei) on an artificial background (field conditions) combined with test (invasive) assessment of variety samples at the stage of competitive variety trials has been tested.