VIEW ARTICLE

Genetics

The Rye Mildew Fungus Carries Avirulence Genes Corresponding to Wheat Genes for Resistance to Races of the Wheat Mildew Fungus. K. Matsumura, Faculty of Agriculture, Kochi University, Nankoku, Kochi 783, Japan; Y. Tosa, Faculty of Agriculture, Kochi University, Nankoku, Kochi 783, Japan. Phytopathology 85:753-756. Accepted for publication 13 March 1995. Copyright 1995 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-85-753.

The common wheat cultivar Chancellor and its near-isogenic lines carrying resistance genes to Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici, the wheat powdery mildew fungus, were inoculated with 60 F₁ cultures derived from a cross between B. graminis f. sp. secalis, the rye powdery mildew fungus, and B. graminis f. sp. tritici. Segregation patterns of avirulent and virulent cultures showed that the F₁ population carries avirulence genes corresponding to Pm1, Pm2, Pm3a, Pm3b, Pm3c, and Pmla, resistance genes to races of the wheat mildew fungus. This result indicates that the rye mildew fungus, an inappropriate forma specialis for wheat, carries these avirulence genes.