Evaluation of some Wheat Commercial Cultivars and Advanced Lines for Resistance to Flag Smut, Urocystis agropyri (Preuss) Schroter, in Khuzestan

  Flag smut of wheat (Urocystis agropyri) has been recently developed in some fields in Khuzestan province and causes sever damages on wheat. Infection was estimated up to 45% in these fields. The most important and economical control method is use of resistant cultivars. This experiment was conducted to evaluate some commercial and promising wheat cultivars and lines for resistance to disease. For this, 186 commercial and promising bread and durum wheat cultivars and lines, after artificially infection with smut spores, were sown in disease nursery. Each cultivar was planted in two rows with one meter length. This experiment was conducted in 2003-2004 with one replication and in 2004-2005 with two replications and on the basis of average of infected Plants, reactions were evaluated. The results of two years showed that among 186 cultivars and lines, 22 were very susceptible with infection between 20.61 to 52.45 percent, 33 were susceptible with infection range from 10.41 to 19.05 percent, 25 were moderately susceptible with 5.21 to 9.67 infection percent, 18 were moderately resistant with infection percent between 2.36 to 4.49, 36 were resistant with infection less than 2 percent and 52 were immune. The majority of bread wheat genotypes were very susceptible, susceptible, moderately susceptible or moderately resistant.Form 80 evaluated durum lines and cultivars, 50 lines and cultivars were immune and 30 were resistant to the disease, and only two bread wheat cultivars were immune. Â