The resistance to leaf rust and powdery mildew of recombinant lines of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) derived from H. vulgare × H. bulbosum crosses

Abstract A set of 23 recombinant lines (RLs) of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) derived from H. vulgare × H. bulbosum L. crosses was inoculated with barley leaf rust (Puccinia hordei) and powdery mildew (Blumeria graminis f.sp. hordei) at the seedling stage to identify their levels and mechanisms of resistance. Eight RLs were studied further in glasshouse and field tests. All three barley parents (‘Emir’, ‘Golden Promise’ and ‘Vada’) were highly susceptible to powdery mildew and leaf rust isolates. Several RLs showed partial resistance expressed as high relative latency periods and low relative infection frequencies against leaf rust. This high level of partial resistance was due to a very high level of early aborting colonies without host cell necrosis. Several RLs showed hypersensitive resistance to some or all isolates. For powdery mildew, one RL was completely resistant to the CC1 isolate and had a hypersensitive resistance to the CO‐02 isolate. Three RLs derived from ‘Emir’ were completely resistant to both powdery mildew isolates, and three more RLs tested in the field had higher levels of partial resistance than their parents. The results indicate that H. bulbosum contains major and minor gene(s) for resistance to leaf rust and powdery mildew that can be transferred to cultivated barley.