Association of leaf rust and powdery mildew resistance in a recombinant derived from a Hordeum vulgare x Hordeum bulbosum hybrid

While studying powdery mildew resistance in a recombinant line (code 81882) derived from a Hordeum vulgare (cv. 'Vada') x Hordeum bulbosum hybrid, a low infection type of resistance to leaf rust was observed. To determine the mode of inheritance of the leaf rust resistance and whether there was linkage between the two resistances, F₂ and F₃ progenies from crosses between 81882 and 'Vada' were inoculated with the leaf rust and powdery mildew pathogens. Southern blots were prepared using restricted DNA extracted from leaves of 82 F₂ plants and four chromosome 2HS sequences were hybridized with the blots to define the length of the introgression. The leaf rust resistance appears to be inherited as a single dominant gene on chromosome 2HS, which co-segregates with the powdery mildew resistance. There was an almost complete association between the resistances and the respective molecular markers, but it is likely that the strong linkage results from the frequent inheritance of the introgressed H. bulbosum DNA as an intact segment of chromatin with only low levels of recombination within the segment.