Identification of Small Grains Genotypes Resistant to Soilborne wheat mosaic virus

Soilborne wheat mosaic virus (SBWMV) was detected in New York in 1998 for the first time and has been associated with yield loss where identified. We assessed 115 regionally adapted small grains genotypes for resistance to SBWMV over four growing seasons. Resistance to SBWMV reduces the percentage of plants that develop detectable viral titer and symptoms. Logistic regression was used to analyze disease incidence data and was compared with a general linear model for categorizing relative resistance to SBWMV. Logistic regression facilitated assessment of the effects of small sample size, low disease incidence, and nonuniform disease distribution. By increasing sample size from 20 to 30 stems per replicate, the number of resistance categories was increased through improved resolution of intermediate resistance classes. In environments with low disease incidence, the number of genotypes categorized as susceptible decreased while intermediate genotypes appeared to be resistant in the analysis. Inclusion of disease distribution data as covariates in a spatially balanced experiment did not increase the power of the logistic analysis. No genotype assessed in multiple years was immune to infection. However, 41 of the regionally adapted genotypes tested repeatedly expressed strong resistance to SBWMV, providing growers a choice of cultivars resistant to SBWMV.