Marker Assisted Introgression of Novel Spot Blotch Resistant Qtl Alleles Into Emmer Wheat Triticum dicoccum Schrank Schubl and Nanoparticle Mediated Spray Induced Gene Silencing SIGS A Novel Tool to Control Spot Blotch Disease of Wheat

Abstract

Wheat is a major staple food crop affected by several fungal diseases. Among newlinethem, spot blotch caused by Bipolaris sorokiniana poses a significant threat to wheat newlineproduction and grain quality especially in emmer wheat species in warm and humid newlineregions of India and other South Asian countries due to its widespread prevalence and newlineincreasing severity Its rapid spread and escalating severity poses a substantial shadow newlineover wheat production and grain quality. To secure the sustainability of wheat newlinecultivation, addressing the yield losses induced by this disease is a pressing imperative. newlineIn the quest for resilient wheat varieties, a remarkable breakthrough has been newlineachieved from the present study by identification of molecularly confirmed and newlinecharacterized heterozygous BC2F1 lines. Further the potential of these lines, can be newlineachieved through simultaneous selfing and backcrossing to generate advanced selfed newlineand backcrossed generations, these lines serve as an excellent genetic material and newlineprovide a solid foundation for conducting comprehensive functional genomics and newlineexpression studies, allowing scientists and plant breeders to understand molecular newlinemechanisms and intricate pathways that underpin the plant s defense against disease newlineand to develop genetic stocks and resistant varieties. newlineIn this research, 31 selected germplasm lines out of 127 lines tested exhibited newlineconsistent resistance, ranging from moderately resistant to resistant, over two years newline(from 2021 to 2023). The notable performers include GPM Dicoccum IR-84, ICARDA newline-11- 46512, and 17 others, outshining established benchmarks concerning parameters newlinelike the Area Under Disease Progress Curve (AUDPC) and yield. Importantly, a clear newlinelink emerged between disease resistance and physiological vigor, as genotypes newlinedisplaying the lowest AUDPC values exhibited higher values in measures like SPAD newlineand NDVI. The two markers, Xgwm 312-2A and Xgwm 114-3B identified from the study contributed to total phenotypic variation of 22.3 per cent can serve as makers of newlinechoice in spot