Inheritance of Rust Reactions and Their Associations with other Traits in Crosses with a Hard Red Winter Wheat1

‘Hand’ wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is immune from leaf rust (Puccinia recondita Rob. ex. Desm. f. sp. tritici) and stem rust (P. graminis f. sp. tritici Eriks. and Henn.), high in seed protein, and of excellent baking and dough handling properties, though weak‐strawed and medium in yield. The putative pedigree of Hand is in doubt. To determine the inheritance of Hand's valuable characteristics, crosses were studied, using single plants and progeny rows, of Hand with ‘Centurk’ and TX62A2522‐8‐2 (semidwarf), both low in protein, and of Hand with NE68513, high in protein. All seedlings were vernalized and transplanted to the field in 1973. Races 15B‐2, 32, and 151 (of Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici) were inoculated into spreader rows. Centurk was moderately resistant to stem rust and susceptible to naturally occurring races of P. recondita f. sp. tritici. TX62A2522‐8‐2 was susceptible to stem rust and mixed in reaction to leaf rust. NE68513 was moderately susceptible to stem rust and susceptible to leaf rust. Two dominant factor pairs and one factor pair controlled immunity from leaf rust and stem rust, respectively, in Hand. SrTtl was identified as the gene in Hand controlling resistance to stem rust. High protein and resistance to leaf rust were usually associated in inheritance. High protein and resistance to stem rust were not associated except in the F3 of the TX/Hand cross. Leaf rust resistance was usually associated with large seed. Stem rust resistance and lateness were associated in one cross but immune, early lines occurred. Reaction to leaf and stem rust were inherited independently. The results indicated that high yielding, rust resistant, early wheats with high protein and large seeds can be developed from crosses with Hand.