A gene in European wheat cultivars for resistance to an African isolate of Mycosphaerella graminicola

Genes for specific resistance to European and American isolates of Mycosphaerella graminicola, the causal agent of septoria tritici blotch (STB) of wheat, have been identified and mapped in various cultivars and breeding lines and are distributed throughout the genome. The location of a gene for resistance to an Ethiopian isolate, IPO88004, which is currently the most widespread resistance present in European wheat cultivars, is reported. The resistance was mapped in the Swiss cultivar Arina which, besides high partial resistance to STB, also has specific resistance to IPO323, controlled by Stb6 and to IPO88004. An F5 recombinant inbred population from a cross between Arina and the susceptible cultivar Forno was tested in whole seedling trials. Using multiple QTL mapping (MQM), a gene for resistance to M. graminicola isolate IPO88004 in cv. Arina was located to chromosome 6AS. The gene is named Stb15. Seedling tests on a double haploid population of cvs Arina × Riband indicated that the UK wheat cv. Riband also has Stb15 or another gene for specific resistance to IPO88004 allelic or closely linked to Stb15.