The pattern of inheritance of powdery mildew resistance expressed by two bread wheat (cultivar ‘Alcedo’)/Aegilops markgrafii introgression lines was explored using F2 populations bred from crosses made with the powdery mildew-susceptible cultivar ‘Kanzler’. Disease reaction was tested at both seedling and adult plant stages. Two resistance loci, designated QPm.ipk-1A and QPm.ipk-7A, were identified as mapping to the distal ends of chromosome arms 1AS and 7AL, respectively. Whereas QPm.ipk-1A was expressed throughout the plant's life, QPm.ipk-7A was only effective at the seedling stage. The map location of both resistance loci indicated that resistances originated from A. markgrafii. The possible genetic relationship of these disease-resistant genes to known Pm genes is discussed in the context of synteny.

Aegilops markgrafii is a useful source of genes encoding both resistance to biotic stress and high seed lysine content. Bread wheat/Ae. markgrafii introgression lines expressing leaf rust resistance were developed from a cross between a leaf rust-resistant Ae.markgrafii accession and the susceptible bread wheat cultivar ‘Alcedo’. The content of introgressed segments present in five sister introgression lines was assessed with the help of chromosome-specific simple sequence repeats (SSRs). One of the lines was used as a parent of a 140 individual F2 mapping population, by crossing with the leaf rust-susceptible bread wheat cv. ‘Borenos’. The population was tested for susceptibility or resistance to leaf rust, and linkage analysis indicated the presence of a quantitative trait locus (QLr.ipk-2A) originating from the Ae. markgrafii parent, mapping to the distal segment of chromosome arm 2AS.