Identification of Winter Wheat Cultivars and Experimental Lines Resistant to Wheat Spindle Streak Mosaic Virus. K. Zagula Haufler, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Michigan State University, East Lansing 48824-1312. D. W. Fulbright, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Michigan State University, East Lansing 48824-1312. Plant Dis. 70:31-33. Accepted for publication 30 July 1985. Copyright 1986 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-70-31.

Five commercial cultivars and eight experimental lines of soft white and soft red winter wheat, selected from hundreds of cultivars and lines screened in field plots, were rated for their reactions to wheat spindle streak mosaic virus (WSSMV) under field and growth-chamber conditions. Ratings were based on symptom severity and virus particle counts determined by immunosorbent electron microscopy. Two of the cultivars and all of the experimental lines showed some resistance to WSSMV. Virus was not detected in leaves from three of the experimental lines. Resting spores of the fungal vector Polymyxa graminis were found in roots from susceptible and resistant cultivars, indicating that resistance to WSSMV may be due to resistance to virus infection or multiplication.