Impact of Stripe Rust Resistance Alleles on Wheat Grain Yield Using Landraces and Improved Accessions

Stripe rust is one of the most devastating biotic stresses to cause grain yield losses in wheat. In the current study, 227 imported accessions, and six widely grown modern cultivars (Sids14, Sids12, Misr1, Misr2, Giza171, and Gimmiza9), were used. All plant materials were planted in the field and evaluated for stripe rust resistance and grain yield. Five Simple Sequence Repeats (SSR) markers Xpsp3000, Xbarc8, Xgwm419, Xwmc44, and Xbarc32, respectively, are associated with five essential stripe rust resistance genes Yr10, Yr15, Yr26, Yr29, and Yr59, were also used. The results indicated a highly positive and significant correlation between grain yield and stripe rust resistance. Furthermore, as the number of stripe rust resistance alleles increased, both grain yield and stripe rust resistance increased. Out of the 233 accessions used, 11 accessions were found to contain the five resistance genes. The identified resistant accessions could be used as a gene source to enhance stripe rust resistance in wheat breeding programs. SSR markers used in the current study effectively capture a substantial part of the phenotypic variation caused by stripe rust. Thus, these five markers could be used effectively in marker-assisted selection for stripe rust resistance.