A total of 59 diploid Aegilops tauschii Coss . (syn . Aegilops squarrosa auct . non L .) and 39 synthetic hexaploid wheat accessions were evaluated for reaction to Pyrenophora tritici-repentis (Died .) Drechs . in a controlled environment, and classified using a disease rating system based on lesion type . 27 Ae . tauschii and 20 synthetic wheats were found to be resistant to tan spot disease . The overall mean disease ratings of Ae . tauschii and the synthetic wheat lines scored on a scale of 1 (resistant) to 5 (susceptible) were 1 .80 and 2 .38, respectively. Synthetic wheats generally showed a decrease in resistance, although several lines of synthetic wheat expressed a higher resistance than the diploid parents . Five synthetic wheat lines exhibited higher resistance than the standard resistant common wheat cultivar `Red Chief' .