Gene action for adult-plant resistance to powdery mildew in wheat

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Abstract
Gene action for adult-plant resistance to powdery mildew was studied using generation mean analyses of parents and of F1, F2, and backcross populations derived from a diallel cross of one susceptible and three adult-plant resistant wheat cultivars. Joint scaling tests showed that an additive–dominance model was sufficient to explain the variability in the expression of adult-plant resistance in one cross, while digenic epistasis was involved in the other five crosses. Additive gene effects were predominant; however, dominance was significant in four crosses, additive × additive interaction was significant in three crosses, additive × dominance interaction was significant in three crosses, and dominance × dominance interaction was significant in one cross. Therefore, selection for adult-plant resistance would likely be most effective in advanced generations derived from crosses among the adult-plant resistant cultivars Redcoat, Houser, and Massey.Key words: gene action, adult-plant resistance, Blumeria, Erysiphe graminis f.sp. tritici, Triticum aestivum.