Aegilops conservation and collection evaluation in the Czech Republic

Abstract

Aegilops distribution was revised on localities in the territory of the Czech Republic and the former Czechoslovakia, based on herbarium data, literature and floristic databases. The only surviving species Ae. cylindrica forms the northern limit of distribution in the Danube basin, other sites are secondary. In situ conservation was proposed for two Czech sites where Aegilops have been naturalized. An ex situ gene bank collection has been maintained in the Gene Bank Prague since 1985. The collection includes 21 species and 1099 accessions. The whole collection was evaluated for breeding-valuable characters: resistance to leaf diseases, cereal aphids, viral diseases, and qualitative parameters. Recently, the collection was retested for the present races of leaf and stem rust including new introductions from Kazakhstan. Six different leaf rust races and five different stem rust races collected from the Czech Republic were applied in the older tests, and three races from each rust species in the recent tests. The highest number of accessions resistant both to wheat leaf rust and wheat stem rust and powdery mildew was found in Ae. speltoides (90%). Different reactions of individual accessions of the tested species to the three different pathotypes of each rust species indicates that several diverse genes for specific resistance are present in the accessions of the tested species.

Genotype-by-sequencing facilitates genetic mapping of a stem rust resistance locus in Aegilops umbellulata, a wild relative of cultivated wheat

“…tritici ( Pgt ), from wild relatives of wheat has been intensified [24] due to the emergence of stem rust pathogen race TTKSK (the first isolate of this race was named Ug99). The cultivated wheat gene pool has a narrow genetic base for resistance to Ug99 and up to 90% of world’s wheat cultivars are considered Ug99 susceptible [25].…”

Leaf rust resistance genes in Aegilops genus: occurrence and efficiency

“…Lr37, the most abundant Lr gene in this study, is also the most represented gene conferring adult plant resistance in Czech wheat cultivars (Hanzalová & Zelba, 2022;Holubec et al, 2014). Although Lr37 did not show a population-wide effect, within Ae.…”

World food security and the tribe Triticeae (Poaceae): Genetic resources of cultivated, wild, and weedy taxa for crop improvement

“…It is widely accepted that hexaploid bread wheat ( Triticum aestivum ) originated from natural hybridization and chromosome doubling (polyploidy), involving three diploid progenitors: Triticum monococcum , Aegilops speltoides , and Aegilops tauschii (Dvorak et al, ; Salamini et al, ). Therefore, the accumulated knowledge on wild wheats with different ploidy levels (diploid, tetraploid, and hexaploid) and closely related goat grasses ( Aegilops ) can significantly facilitate the genetic improvement of wheat crops (Feldman & Sears, ; Dvorak et al, ; Holubec et al, ). Devoting his entire career to wheat and barley studies, Nevo () presents in this issue a comprehensive review on the evolution of wild emmer wheat ( T. dicoccoides ) and its role in the improvement of wheat crops.…”

“…As a consequence, the conservation and evaluation of Aegilops species have been carried out in many countries (Mujeeb‐Kazi et al, ; Maxted et al, ). Holubec et al () reported the conservation and evaluation program for Aegilops in the Czech Republic. For ex situ conservation, a set of Aegilops germplasm including 21 species and 1099 accessions has been protected in the Gene Bank Prague.…”

“…In addition, the whole set of Aegilops germplasm has been evaluated for its valuable characters, such as resistance to insects and diseases, as well as quality traits. For in situ conservation, two sites in the Czech Republic where Aegilops populations have been naturalized are established (Holubec et al, ).…”