Powdery mildew is one of the major diseases of wheat in regions with a maritime or semi-continental climate which can strongly affect grain yield. The objective of the study was to identify and compare quantitative resistance to powdery mildew of line RE9001 at the adult plant and vernalized seedling stages. RE9001 has no known Pm gene and shows a high level of adult plant resistance in the field. Using 104 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) of an RE9001 · 'Courtot' F8 population, a genetic map was developed with 363 markers distributed over 26 linkage groups and covering 3825 cM. The global map density was 1 locus/10.3 cM. RILs were assessed under field and tunnel greenhouse conditions for 2 years in two locations. Eleven quantitative trait loci (QTL) were detected at the adult stage and they explained 63% of the variation, depending on the environment. Three QTLs were found, at least, in the two environments. One QTL from RE9001, mapped on chromosome 2B, was stable in each environment. This QTL, QPm.inra.2B, explained 10.3-36.6% of the variation and could be mapped in the vicinity of the Pm6 gene. At the vernalized seedling stage, one QTL detected by the isolate 93-27 could be an allele of the Pm3g gene present in 'Courtot'. No residual effect of the Pm3g gene was detected at either stage. Markers flanking the QTL 2B could be useful tools to combine resistance to powdery mildew in wheat cultivars.

The Pm3 resistance locus, located on chromosome 1A in wheat, confers race-specific resistance to the obligate biotrophic fungus Blumeria graminis (DC) E.O. Speer f. sp. tritici, the causal agent of powdery mildew. Several Pm3 alleles are still effective in controlling the disease in Europe. A genetic map was constructed to map the Pm3g allele in the recombinant inbred line progeny from the cross ÔRE9001Õ (susceptible) · ÔCourtotÕ (resistant). Two microsatellite markers were closely mapped to Pm3g. The PSP2999 marker, which cosegregates with this allele, was shown to detect the presence of the Pm3g resistance allele in other cultivars. A collection of 56 wheat cultivars or advanced lines carrying one Pm3 allele was used to assess the allelespecific amplification of the PSP2999 marker. The same amplification pattern was obtained for lines with Pm3a, Pm3b, Pm3e, Pm3f and Pm3g alleles. Twenty genotypes carrying Pm3d showed a specific amplification pattern. This marker allowed the detection of the Pm3d allele in highly resistant lines whose resistance gene combinations were unknown. It was concluded that PSP2999 is a useful marker to detect Pm3 alleles in parents and to manage them in breeding programmes.