Inheritance of Disease Resistance in Plants

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The development of disease resistant varieties is used extensively in the control of plant diseases. As illustrations of importance were cited spring wheat varieties resistant to black stem rust and wilt resistant varieties of flax. Because of physiologic forms of the organisms which cause disease, it is necessary to determine the genetic nature of these organisms. While new physiologic forms can be obtained by hybridization or by mutation, the genetic characters of the organisms that cause plant diseases appear to be as stable as the characters of higher plants. With reaction to stem rust, instances are given in wheat crosses where only a single differential factor was responsible for the character pair, resistance vs. susceptibility, while in other crosses multiple factors were involved. With reaction to the organism causing smut in corn and with the "spot blotch" disease in barley, the number and nature of factors involved was determined by studies of linkage relations with factors in known linkage groups. Two factors or groups of factors were determined for smut reaction while 3 groups of factors were isolated for the spot blotch disease in barley. The development of disease-resistant varieties is one of the most valuable methods of utilizing genetic principles in the solving of agricultural problems.

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit: