HORDEUM-CHILENSE RESISTANCE TO POWDERY MILDEW AND ITS POTENTIAL USE IN CEREAL BREEDING

Hordeum chilense is a wild barley with high crossability with Triticum , Hordeum and Secale. Its amphiploid with wheat, tritordeum, has poten tial as a new crop. H. chilense is highly resistant to the powdery mil dew diseases of both wheat and barley. Whereas tritordeum is resistant to barley powdery mildew, its reaction to wheat powdery mildew is sim ilar to that of its wheat parent. However H. chilense contributes to a reduced density of mildew colonies. This quantitative resistance of t ritordeum is diluted at higher ploidy levels.