Identification of the Powdery Mildew Resistance in Chinese Wheat Cultivar Heng 4568 and its Evaluation in Marker-Assisted Selection.

Powdery mildew induced by f. sp. () has a devastating impact on global wheat yield and quality. Host resistance is the most effective and economical means to control this disease. In this study, Heng 4568, an elite wheat cultivar, shows high resistance to 12 isolates from different regions in China at the seedling stage. Genetic analysis demonstrates that the powdery mildew resistance in Heng 4568 is conferred by a single dominant locus, temporarily designated . Furthermore, is mapped to the reported interval on chromosome 5DS with five linked markers and flanked by the markers and with a genetic distance of 0.3 and 0.6 cM, respectively. To further investigate the relationship between and , the diagnostic marker of is used to genotype the F population derived from the cross Heng 4568 × Daimai 2173. Notably, there is no recombination found, indicating that is also probably a allele. In addition, five closely linked markers as well as one diagnostic marker are successfully developed and tested in 16 wheat cultivars from different agro-ecological areas in China, which have potential applications in molecular breeding by marker-assisted selection.