Progress and perspective in research of adult-plant resistance to stripe rust and powdery mildew in wheat

Stripe rust,caused by Puccinia striiformis f.sp.tritici,and powdery mildew,caused by Blumeria graminis f.sp.tritici,are the devastating diseases in common wheat(Triticum aestivum L.) worldwide.Use of adult-plant resistance(APR) genes is an important method for the development of durable resistant cultivars.A total of 72 quantitative trait loci(QTLs) for APR to stripe rust and 82 QTLs for APR to powdery mildew were integrated into a linkage map based on the information of DNA markers linked to individual QTL.Eight gene clusters(≥5 QTLs) conferred resistance to both stripe rust and powdery powdery,among them,Yr18/Lr34/Pm38,Yr29/Lr46/Pm39,and Yr46/Lr67 showed resistance to stripe rust,leaf rust and powdery mildew.Yr18/Lr34/Pm38 and Yr36 have been cloned.Xiannong 4 and Xiaoyan 6 were very important resistant germplasm for APR to stripe rust and powdery midew.The application of APR to wheat breeding in China was summarized.The use of APR genes will be a major method for improving stripe rust and powdery mildew resistance in wheat breeding.The strategies for APR on wheat breeding were also discussed.