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The Basis for Thinopyrum-Derived Resistance to Cereal yellow dwarf virus

First author: Plant Biology Program, Department of Agronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907; and second author: Crop Production and Pest Control Research, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Department of Agronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907

Incorporation of Thinopyrum intermedium-derived resistance genes into improved wheat germ plasm generated a wheat substitution line (P29) which is completely resistant to Cereal yellow dwarf virus (CYDV). The undetectable CYDV titer in P29 led many to conclude that resistance prevented viral replication. To determine whether CYDV replication or movement is inhibited, we examined inoculated leaves for replication and uninoculated leaves for systemic spread. CYDV subgenomic RNA, produced only during replication, was found within the inoculated area of P29 and T. intermedium leaves, demonstrating that viral replication occurred. Absence of CYDV from uninoculated, newly emerging leaves of inoculated P29 and T. intermedium plants indicated resistance via inhibition of viral systemic infection. Resistance was not effective if P29 was inoculated with 50 to 100 viruliferous aphids per plant at the first-leaf stage or younger, resulting in a systemic spread of CYDV. As these infected P29 seedlings continued to grow, the resistance phenotype was recovered. Our data suggested that T. intermedium-derived resistance to CYDV was primarily dosage dependent and could be developmentally regulated if the amount of inoculum was large enough.