Recent advances in breeding of cereals for resistance to barley yellow dwarf virus

The review focuses on recent progress in the breeding of small grain cereals (barley, wheat, oats) for resistance to the barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV). First, the symptomatology of barley yellow dwarf (BYD) disease is briefly described and the genome of BYDV, its serotypes and mechanisms of its replication and translation in host plants are characterized. Great attention is paid to the description of resistance genes and sources of BYDV resistance that are currently used in some breeding programmes of barley, wheat and oats. In barley, the introduction of the Ryd2 gene into high-yielding cultivars is still desirable. An example of recent success reached in a European programme aimed at a pyramiding of resistance genes is the registration of the Italian feeding barley cultivar Doria, carrying resistance genes Ryd2, rym4 and Rdg1. The release of this cultivar resulted from the cooperation between EICR, Fiorenzuola d'Arda and CRI in Prague-Ruzyně in the field of virus resistance. Finally, some experiments employing transgenic techniques in the construction of resistant plants are mentioned. In conclusion, the advantages and disadvantages of classical breeding methods using crossing and transgenic techniques are compared and newly arising approaches are discussed.