Resistance to powdery mildew in selections from Moroccan barley landraces

Seventy-five barley landraces from Morocco were tested for resistance to powdery mildew and a number of different resistance genes were detected. Thirty-five isolates of Blumeria graminis f. sp. hordei and the Pallas isoline differential set were used. Isolates used in the experiment had virulences corresponding to all major resistance genes used in Europe. Forty-four of the tested landraces showed resistant reactions. From each of these landraces, one to five resistant plants were selected and 92 single plant lines were created. Six lines selected from 3 landraces were assumed to carry the mlo gene but they were discarded after microscopic investigation. Seventeen lines were tested in the seedling stage with 17 isolates and another 69 lines were tested with 23 differential isolates. These lines showed 71 reaction spectra to isolates of powdery mildew. Eight lines (9%), 255-3-3, 282-3-4, 286-1-1, 294-2-3, 294-2-4, 295-1-2, 308-1-2 and 327-2-1, selected from 7 landraces showed resistance to all isolates. Seventy-eight lines (90%) showed a resistant infection type 2 with more than 50% of the isolates used. In most of the selected lines (86%) unknown genes, alone or in combination with known specific resistance genes, were detected. Four different resistance alleles ( Mlat, Mla6, Mla14 and Mla1) were postulated to be present in the tested lines. The most common was Mlat, which was postulated in 35 (41%) lines. The use of newly identified sources of powdery mildew resistance in barley breeding is discussed.