Genetic analysis and heritabilities of resistance to Mycosphaerella graminicola in wheat

Septoria tritici blotch is an important wheat disease in many areas of the world including Iranʹs warm, humid regions. In this study, crosses were made between resistant breeding line BOBWHITE#1/FENGKANG and commercial cultivars Moghan3, Koohdasht, Tajan and Morvarid, and derived F1, F2, BC1 and BC2 generations were used to determine the genetic control of necrosis, pycnidia traits and the area under disease progress curve (AUDPC) in seedlings under greenhouse conditions using generation mean analysis. The cultivars and derived populations were evaluated using a randomized complete block design with three replications. Significant differences among generations were found for all traits, and genetic analyses of those traits were performed. Results showed that additive, non-additive and epistatic effects played roles in controlling all traits. The role of dominance effects and dominance × dominance interaction was much greater in controlling the studied traits. Therefore, hybridization methods and selection in the final generation are recommended for improving resistance to septoria tritici blotch.