Studies on general resistance to stem rust in wheat

Eight cultivars that were thought to have field resistance to stem rust were selected and crossed to produce four four-cultivar hybrids. From those crosses lines were produced that lacked seedling resistance to race 15B-1 of stem rust but had good field resistance to it. They also proved to have field resistance to many other races and it is hoped that the resistance is general. Genetic studies indicated that there is some variation in the lines, but resistance is generally inherited as a quantitative character with several largely recessive genes having small additive effects. This suggests that in an induced mutation programme, no one plant is likely to accumulate sufficient mutant genes that it will appear resistant. (author)