Abstract
Powdery mildew caused by the airborne ascomycete fungus Blumeria graminis f. sp. hordei (Bgh) is one of most common diseases of barley (Hordeum vulgare). This, as with many other plant pathogens, can be efficiently controlled by inexpensive and environmentally-friendly genetic resistance. General requirements for resistance to the pathogens are effectiveness and durability. Resistance of barley to Bgh has been studied intensively, and this review describes recent research and summarizes the specific resistance genes found in barley varieties since the last conspectus. Bgh is extraordinarily adaptable, and some commonly recommended strategies for using genetic resistance, including pyramiding of specific genes, may not be effective because they can only contribute to a limited extent to obtain sufficient resistance durability of widely-grown cultivars. In spring barley, breeding the nonspecific mlo gene is a valuable source of durable resistance. Pyramiding of nonspecific quantitative resistance genes or using introgressions derived from bulbous barley (Hordeum bulbosum) are promising ways for breeding future winter barley cultivars. The utilization of a wide spectrum of nonhost resistances can also be adopted once practical methods have been developed.
Highlights
The first study of barley resistance against powdery mildew was performed on progenies from crossing H. vulgare with wild barley [78], which was later recognized as a large pool of resistance to powdery mildew [79,80,81]
In a set of 146 heterogeneous accessions represented by 687 plant progenies, only 56 progenies were susceptible to all 32 isolates used, 46 plants were resistant and 611 progenies exhibited resistance type arrays (RTA) indicating the presence of specific resistances and their combinations [98]
It seems that Blumeria pathogens infecting species belonging to the tertiary genepool of Hordeum are distant from Blumeria graminis f. sp. hordei (Bgh), and resistances derived from these Hordeum species and integrated into cultivated barley genome should be more durable
Summary
Barley (H.v. L.) is an important cereal crop and powdery mildew is one of its most frequent diseases [1,2] caused by the airborne ascomycete fungus Blumeria graminis (DC.) E. This, as well as many other plant pathogens, can be efficiently controlled by inexpensive and environmentally-friendly genetic resistance [3]. Bgh is extraordinarily adaptable [4], and some commonly recommended strategies of using genetic resistance—for example, the development of specific resistance gene pyramids in host genotypes [5] or use of cultivars carrying specific resistance genes in varietal mixtures [6]—may be ineffective
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
