Specific resistances to isolates of the ascomycete fungus Mycosphaerella graminicola, which causes Septoria tritici blotch of wheat, have been detected in many cultivars. Cvs. Flame and Hereward, which have specific resistance to the isolate IPO323, were crossed with the susceptible cv. Longbow. The results of tests on F1 and F2 progeny indicated that a single semidominant gene controls resistance to IPO323 in each of the resistant cultivars. This was confirmed in F3 families of Flame x Longbow, which were either homozygous resistant, homozygous susceptible, or segregating in tests with IPO323 but were uniformly susceptible to another isolate, IPO94269. None of 100 F2 progeny of Flame x Hereward were susceptible to IPO323, indicating that the resistance genes in these two cultivars are the same, closely linked, or allelic. The resistance gene in cv. Flame was mapped to the short arm of chromosome 3A using microsatellite markers and was named Stb6. Fifty-nine progeny of a cross between IPO323 and IPO94269 were used in complementary genetic analysis of the pathogen to test a gene-for-gene relationship between Stb6 and the avirulence gene in IPO323. Avirulence to cvs. Flame, Hereward, Shafir, Bezostaya 1, and Vivant and the breeding line NSL92-5719 cosegregated, and the ratio of virulent to avirulent was close to 1:1, suggesting that these wheat lines may all recognize the same avirulence gene and may all have Stb6. Together, these data provide the first demonstration that isolate-specific resistance of wheat to Septoria tritici blotch follows a gene-for-gene relationship.

SummaryTomato leaves or cotyledons expressing the Cf-2 or Cf-9 Cladosporium fulvum resistance genes induce salicylic acid (SA) synthesis following in®ltration with intercellular washing¯uid (IF) containing the fungal peptide elicitors Avr2 and Avr9. We investigated whether SA was required for Cf gene-dependent resistance. Tomato plants expressing the bacterial gene nahG, encoding salicylate hydroxylase, did not accumulate SA in response to IF in®ltration but remained fully resistant to C. fulvum. NahG Cf0 plants were as susceptible to C. fulvum as wild-type Cf0. Neither free nor conjugated salicylic acid accumulated in IF-in®ltrated Cf2 and Cf9 NahG leaves and cotyledons but conjugated catechol did accumulate. The Cf-9-dependent necrotic response to IF was prevented in NahG plants and replaced by a chlorotic Cf-2-like response. SA also potentiated Cf-9-mediated necrosis in IF-in®ltrated wild-type leaves. In contrast, the Cf-2-dependent IF response was retained in NahG leaves and chlorosis was more pronounced than in the wild-type. The distribution of cell death between different cell types was altered in both Cf2 and Cf9 NahG leaves after IF injection. IF-induced accumulation of three SA-inducible defence-related genes was delayed and reduced but not abolished in NahG Cf2 and Cf9 leaves and cotyledons. NahG Tm-2 2 tomato showed increased hypersensitive response (HR) lesion size upon TMV infection, as observed in TMVinoculated N gene-containing NahG tobacco plants.

Twenty-four wheat cultivars and breeding lines were screened for isolate-specific resistance to septoria tritici blotch (STB) caused by 12 isolates of Mycosphaerella graminicola. New isolate-specific resistances that could be used in wheat breeding were identified. Major sources of resistance to STB used in world breeding programmes for decades, such as Kavkaz-K4500, Veranopolis, Catbird and TE9111, have several isolate-specific resistances. This suggests that 'pyramiding' several resistance genes in one cultivar may be an effective and durable strategy for breeding for resistance to STB in wheat. Several cultivars, including Arina, Milan and Senat, had high levels of partial resistance to most isolates tested as well as isolatespecific resistances. Resistance to isolate IPO323 was common, present in all but one of the major sources of resistance tested. This suggests that resistance to IPO323 may be an indicator of varietal resistance to STB in the field.