Inheritance of partial resistance to powdery mildew in spring wheat

Four spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars exhibiting partial resistance to powdery mildew induced by Erysiphe graminis f.sp. tritici were crossed to a common susceptible cultivar to study the inheritance of resistance. The genetic parameters contributing to resistance were estimated by generation means analyses. Additive gene action was the most important genetic component of variation among generation means in all four crosses. Additive by additive effects were significant in one cross and both additive by additive and additive by dominance effects were significant in another. Dominance effects were not significant. The F2/F3 correlations in three crosses ranged from 0.27 to 0.43. Three additional crosses among resistant cultivars were employed to study the effectiveness of selection in improving resistance. By selecting the most resistant plants from the F2 and evaluating the progenies in the F4, increases in resistance ranging from 21% to 31% were obtained. In all crosses, there was transgressive segregation in both directions indicating that the genes conferring resistance to these cultivars differ and exhibit additive effects.