IDENTIFICATION AND GENETIC CHARACTERIZATION OF BACTERIAL LEAF STREAK RESISTANCE IN BARLEY

Abstract

Barley is a globally important crop whose production can be limited by bacterial leaf streak (BLS) caused by Xanthomonas translucens pv. translucens. The deployment of resistant cultivars is the best means for controlling the disease. To identify resistant accessions for use in breeding, 2,094 diverse barley accessions were screened to BLS in the field, and 32 were found to possess a high level of resistance and a desirable maturity time. A genome-wide association study was conducted on two panels of advanced breeding lines from the large-scale screening study to characterize the genetic architecture of BLS resistance. Eight quantitative trait loci for BLS resistance were identified: two each on chromosomes 1H, 2H, and 3H and one each on chromosomes 5H and 6H. The resistant germplasm identified in this study together with data elucidating the genetic basis of the trait will facilitate the development of BLS resistant barley cultivars.