Yellow (YR) and leaf (LR) rusts caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst) and Puccinia triticina, respectively, are of utmost importance to wheat producers because of their qualitative and quantitative effect on yield. The search for new loci resistant to both rusts is an ongoing challenge faced by plant breeders and pathologists. Our investigation was conducted on a subset of 168 pre-breeding lines (PBLs) to identify the resistant germplasm against the prevalent local races of LR and YR under field conditions followed by its genetic mapping. Our analysis revealed a range of phenotypic responses towards both rusts. We identified 28 wheat lines with immune response and 85 resistant wheat genotypes against LR, whereas there were only eight immune and 52 resistant genotypes against YR. A GWAS (genome-wide association study) identified 190 marker-trait associations (MTAs), where 120 were specific to LR and 70 were specific to YR. These MTAs were confined to 86 quantitative trait loci (QTLs), where 50 QTLs carried MTAs associated with only LR, 29 QTLs carried MTAs associated with YR, and seven QTLs carried MTAs associated with both LR and YR. Possible candidate genes at the site of these QTLs are discussed. Overall, 70 PBLs carried all seven LR/YR QTLs. Furthermore, there were five PBLs with less than five scores for both LR and YR carrying positive alleles of all seven YR/LR QTLs, which are fit to be included in a breeding program for rust resistance induction.
Keywords: GWAS; breeding; leaf rust; resistance; wheat; yellow rust.