Screening of new wheat cultivars originating from Kazakhstan for stem and leaf rust resistance genes using PCR markers

Abstract

Leaf and stem rust that infect wheat lines are the most prevalent and damaging fungal diseases affecting the wheat production rates globally. One of the efficient and economically wise ways of controlling the disease progression is the breeding resistant wheat varieties. Use of molecular markers associated with resistance genes, might be useful for identifying the varieties, that carry the specific resistant genes. Sixty-four wheat cultivars and lines provided by domestic agricultural experimental stations were examined using DNA-markers for the presence of leaf (Lr) and stem (Sr) rust resistance genes. The reactions were carried out using eight pairs of different primers. Six Lr genes (Lr10, Lr13, Lr16, Lr19 and Lr39) responsible for wheat resistance were detected using PCR. The molecular marker detection demonstrated the presence of a combination of several Lr genes, particularly Lr16, Lr34 and Lr39 in the fifteen spring wheat accessions. Six varieties in the nursery of spring soft wheat from KarabAES, two varieties from AktAES (Ekada 113, Lin. 225/21g.) and seven varieties from NorthKazAES (435/Lut 2, 659/12, 486/Lut 22, 23/07, Erith 42/12, 453 SP-2/19) carried the combination these three genes.