Unlocking the potential of spring wheat genetic resources: uncovering resistance sources against leaf rust and yellow rust.

key messageIntegrating high-throughput phenotyping with multiple complementary GWAS models reduces method-dependent bias and enables reliable identification of novel loci and elite germplasm for durable yellow and leaf rust resistance in wheat. The causal agents of yellow and leaf rust in wheat, Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici and Puccinia triticina, pose a serious threat to grain yield and quality worldwide. Growing durable resistant wheat cultivars is an effective protection measure contributing to sustainable agriculture. Many of the known resistance genes, however, have been overcome due to the high genetic diversity and adaptability of pathogen populations. Therefore, the present study aimed to identify novel loci associated with yellow rust and leaf rust in a genome-wide association study using 1984 spring wheat accessions from the German Federal ex situ Genebank. Phenotypic data obtained from a detached-leaf assay were combined with 90,283 genotyping-by-sequencing genome-wide markers. Six significant peak marker-trait associations were identified for yellow rust and leaf rust, respectively. These are located on chromosomes 1D, 2B, 3B, 4A, 4B, 4D, 5A, 6B, and 7D. Six candidate genes were identified close to the identified loci. These findings may be valuable for identifying and deploying genetic resources to broaden the genetic basis of resistance and safeguard durability of resistance against yellow and leaf rust.