A genetic analysis of adult plant resistance to stripe rust in the wheat cultivar Kariega

The wheat cultivar Kariega expresses complete adult plant resistance to stripe rust in South Africa. The aim of this investigation was to determine the extent and nature of variability in stripe rust resistance in a population of 150 doubled haploid lines generated from a cross between Kariega and the susceptible cultivar Avocet S. Analysis of field data for adult plant stripe rust resistance identified two major QTLs and two minor QTLs in the resistant cultivar Kariega. The two major QTLs were located on chromosomes 7D (QYr.sgi-7D) and 2B (QYr.sgi-2B.1), contributing 29% and 30% to the phenotypic variance, respectively. QYr.sgi-2B.1 is primarily associated with a chlorotic and/or necrotic response, unlike QYr.sgi-7D, which is believed to be the adult plant resistance gene Yr18. These two QTLs for adult plant resistance in Kariega appear to represent different forms of resistance, where QYr.sgi-7D may represent potentially more durable resistance than QYr.sgi-2B.1. Mixture model analysis of the field leaf infection scores suggested a genetic model involving two independent genes combining in a classical, epistatic manner. The results of the QTL analysis demonstrate its higher resolution power compared to the mixture model analysis by detecting the presence of minor QTLs.