Rph22: mapping of a novel leaf rust resistance gene introgressed from the non-host Hordeum bulbosum L. into cultivated barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

A resistance gene (Rph22) to barley leaf rust caused by Puccinia hordei was introgressed from the non-host species Hordeum bulbosum into cultivated barley. The H. bulbosum introgression in line ‘182Q20’ was located to chromosome 2HL using genomic in situ hybridisation (GISH). Using molecular markers it was shown to cover approximately 20 % of the genetic length of the chromosome. The introgression confers a very high level of resistance to P. hordei at the seedling stage that is not based on a hypersensitive reaction. The presence of the resistance gene increased the latency period of the leaf rust fungus and strongly reduced the infection frequency relative to the genetic background cultivar ‘Golden Promise’. An F₂ population of 550 individuals was developed and used to create a genetic map of the introgressed region and to determine the map position of the underlying resistance gene(s). The resistance locus, designated Rph22, was located to the distal portion of the introgression, co-segregating with markers H35_26334 and H35_45139. Flanking markers will be used to reduce the linkage drag, including gene(s) responsible for a yield penalty, around the resistance locus and to transfer the gene into elite barley germplasm. This genetic location is also known to harbour a QTL (Rphq2) for non-hypersensitive leaf rust resistance in the barley cultivar ‘Vada’. Comparison of the ‘Vada’ and H. bulbosum resistances at this locus may lead to a better understanding of the possible association between host and non-host resistance mechanisms.