Inheritance of Karnal bunt‐free trait in bread wheat

Abstract

Abstract A Karnal bunt (KB)‐free wheat stock (‘KBRL22’) obtained from a cross of two resistant lines (‘HD29’ and ‘W485’) was used as a donor to introgress the KB‐free trait into ‘PBW343’(an ‘Attila’ sib), the most widely grown wheat cultivar in India. The number of KB‐free and KB‐affected plants in BC 1 , BC 2 , BC 3 and BC 4 as well the F 2 was recorded after artificial inoculations. The segregation pattern in these generations clearly indicated two independently segregating, dominant genes which jointly confer the KB‐free attribute. The importance of the KB‐free line generated in this experiment is discussed.