The Use of Genetic Material of Tall Wheatgrass to Protect Common Wheat from Septoria Blotch in Western Siberia

The Septoria blotch is one of the most economically harmful diseases of common wheat in Russia and the world. The disease is mainly caused by two pathogen species: Zymoseptoria tritici that damages the leaves, and Parastagonospora nodorum that strikes the leaves and ears. Resistance genes of the alien relatives are traditionally used for genetic defense of cultivars. The aims of the research were to study the resistance of the tall wheatgrass Thinopyrum ponticum (Podp.) Z.-W. Liu and R.-C. Wang and perspective introgressive lines of spring common wheat with its genetic material to Septoria blotch, and to characterize their agronomical properties to be used in breeding programs in Western Siberia. The studies were carried out in 2015–2019 in the field conditions of the southern forest-steppe (Omsk, Russia) on a natural infection background and according to standard methods. The Septoria diseases developed on the wheat in the period of milk-wax ripeness, independently of humid or dry weather conditions. In 2016, a sharp increase in leaf lesion was noted, probably associated with changes in the Z. tritici population. In 2017, the ratio of Z. tritici and P. nodorum was similar, and in 2019 Z. tritici prevailed. During the research, the lines that combined leaf and ear resistance to damage with high yield and grain quality were selected.