Sources of resistance to Heterodera avenae in wheat

Wheat varieties recommended for cultivation in Punjab and wild wheat genotypes (15 entries of Aegilops tauschii) were evaluated for their reaction to three populations of the cereal cyst nematode (CCn), Heterodera avenae collected from different wheat based cropping systems i.e. wheat-maize, wheat-cotton and wheat-rice being followed in Punjab, India. Out of the eighteen wheat cultivars including bread wheat, durum wheat and triticale, none has been found resistant to H. avenae. However, moderately resistant reaction was recorded in two cultivars i.e. PBW 509 (wheat-cotton and wheat-rice populations) and a triticale cultivar, Tl 2908 (wheat-maize and wheatrice populations). While in wild wheat genotypes, resistance to H. avenae has been demonstrated to all the three populations of the nematode species in three entries of Ae. tauschii viz., AT 41, AT 202 and AT 242.