Molecular charactarization of wheat advanced lines for leaf rust resistant genes using SSR markers.

A total of fifty seven wheat advanced lines were screened to detect the existence of leaf rust resistant genes (Lr9, Lr13, Lr19, Lr24, Lr26, Lr28, Lr32, Lr34, Lr35, Lr36, Lr37, Lr39 and Lr46) using thirteen SSR markers. Only four markers for Lr13, Lr32, Lr34 and Lr35 produced separate, reproducible bands which indicated the positive linkage of leaf rust resistance with these SSR markers. The highest frequency was observed for Lr32 (100%), as it was detected in all fifty seven lines, followed by Lr34 (89.4%) in 51 lines, Lr35 (87.7%) in 50 lines and Lr13 (31.5%) in 18 lines respectively. All the four resistant genes were identified in fifteen lines which is only 26% of the studied population. These results indicate that there are limited number of variant genes for leaf rust resistance in the studied wheat advanced lines. Therefore, strategies for arraying these genes to lengthen infection resistance are advised to eliminate wheat rust diseases. In addition, more reliable and capable markers are essential to be settled for marker assisted selection of these and other genes.