Reaction of some wheat cultivars and lines to flag smut

Of 163 commercial Indian wheat cultlvars, the important donors in the Indian wheat breeding program and some international elite wheat lines evaluated for resistance to nag smut under artificial seed inoculation, 32 lines were found to be immune, 16 highly resistant, and 28 moderately resistant to nag smut. All the 13 tetraploid wheats tested were immune. Reaction of NI 5439 and WW 15 to nag smut differed from that observed at other places while that of Federation, Gabo, Gamenya and Oxley was similar, suggesting the presence of different virulences in the pathogen. Varieties CI 299417 (Brewster), CPAN 1235, CPAN 1830, CPAN 1869, CPAN 1884, CPAN 1885, CPAN 1922, CPAN 1929, CPAN 1973, CPAN 1994, CPAN 2019, CPAN 1922, CPAN 1929, CPAN 1973, CPAN 1994, CPAN 2019, CPAN 6051, HD 2278, Raj 1972, Raj 1973 and WG 2109, which are resistant to leaf as well as stripe rusts, can serve as promising donors of multiple disease resistance.