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Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 13 No. sp5 (2026): Recent Advances in Agriculture

Identification of novel sources of yellow rust resistance in wheat-Aegilops derivatives through multi-location trials in Northern India

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.14080
Submitted
12 February 2026
Published
01-07-2026

Abstract

Yellow rust, also referred to as stripe rust is caused by the fungus Puccinia striiformis Westend f.sp. tritici. This pathogen leads to considerable reductions in both grain quality and crop yield worldwide, making it one of the most damaging fungal disease affecting wheat cultivation. The present study evaluated a set of 103 wheat-Aegilops derivatives along with their parental lines for resistance against yellow rust across three different locations viz. Baru Sahib (Himachal Pradesh), Palampur (Himachal Pradesh) and Ludhiana (Punjab) using a 0–9 disease rating scale. Significant differences in disease responses were observed among different genotype and environmental conditions. The analysis of variance indicated significant effects due to both genotype and location, with genotype accounting for the majority of variation at 58.63 %, while location contributed 17.39 %. Six parent genotypes viz., Aegilops kotschyi (Ae. kot. 396, Ae. kot. 3573, Ae. kot. 3790) and Aegilops peregrina (Ae. per. 3519, Ae. per. 3774 and Ae. per. 3772) demonstrated immunity across all locations. The derivative 75-1-4-23-3-2-4 showed a highly resistant response at 2 locations, whereas, the derivatives, 75-1-4-16-3-5 and MB-11-2-17 showed consistent resistance over 3 locations. The derivatives 75-1-4-16-3-5, 77-33-2-5-9-(x)-2, MB-11-2-17, MB-4-2-2 and PBW-343LrYr exhibited significant resistance, as evidenced by their low disease scores at 2 locations. The analysis of stability revealed a specific group of genotypes that demonstrated reliable performance across various environments. The results highlight the potential of wild Aegilops species as novel genetic reservoirs for the introgression of yellow rust resistance. The identified resistant and stable genotypes present a valuable opportunity for pre-breeding efforts aimed at developing robust, rust-resistant wheat cultivars.

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