Development and characterization of wheat-Psathyrostachys huashanica partial amphiploids for resistance to stripe rust

Two partial amphiploid lines, B113 (32 plants) and B21 (13 plants), derived from a wheat-Psathyrostachys huashanica intergeneric cross were characterized by Giemsa C-banding and SDS-PAGE and evaluated for stripe rust resistance. All 15 partial amphiploid plants were aneuploids with either 50 (8 plants), 51 (6 plants) or 54 (1 plant) chromosomes. Some showed regular meiosis and all the P. huashanica chromosomes were included, although not in a single plant. Of 45 plants 34 showed specific bands on SDS-PAGE representing high molecular weight glutenin subunit (HMW-GS) and 41 had bands representing P. huashanica low molecular weight glutenin subunit (LMW-GS), including two new subunits. All 45 plants were highly resistant (10) or immune (35) to stripe rust mixed races CYR-30, CYR-31, Shuiyuan 7 and Shuiyuan 14. These amphiploid plants could be useful germplasm for enhancing stripe rust resistance and might improve wheat grain quality.