Molecular marker-facilitated pyramiding of different genes for powdery mildew resistance in wheat

Breeding durable resistance to pathogens and pests is a major task for modern plant breeders and pyramiding different resistance genes into a genotype is one way of achieving this. Three powdery mildew resistance gene combinations, Pm2 + Pm4a, Pm2 + Pm21, Pm4a + Pm21 were successfully integrated into an elite wheat cultivar 'Yang158'. Double homozygotes were selected from a small F-2 population with the help of molecular markers. As the parents were near-isogenic lines (NILs) of 'Yang158', the progenies showed good uniformity in morphological and other non-resistance agronomic traits. The present work illustrates the bright prospects for the utilization of molecular markers in breeding For host resistance.