Muhammad Nour Al-Assaf^1*, Naeem Al-Hussein², Reham Abu Al-Kanj², Jalal Abboud³, Ruba Youssef³ and Addi Ismaeel⁴

1 General Commission of Scientific Agricultural Research, Cotton Research Department.
2 General Commission of Scientific Agricultural Research, Aleppo Research Center.
3 General Commission of Scientific Agricultural Research, Tartous Research Center, Al-Jamasa Station.
4 General Commission of Scientific Agricultural Research, Alghab Research Center.
(*Corresponding author: Muhammad Nour Al-Assaf, Email: assafnoor57@gmail.com)

Received: 12/ 11/ 2025               Accepted: 22/ 1/ 2026

Abstract: 

The research was carried out at the Al-Jamasa (Tartous), Al-Ghab (Hama), and Tal Hadya (Aleppo) Research Stations of the General center for Scientific Agricultural Research during the season (2023/2024), and the biotechnology laboratory of the General center for Scientific Agricultural Research – Aleppo Research Center. The aim of evaluating eight promising lines of bread wheat (production efficiency stage) for yellow rust disease caused by Puccinia striiformis west. f. sp. tritici Eriks under natural infected conditions of the yellow rust.  This is based on the reaction of plants at the heading stage in the field and the detection of resistance genes present in these lines using molecular markers in the laboratory, in addition to evaluating some of the yield characteristics (spike length, number of grain/spikes, grain weight/spike, 1000 – grain weight). The study showed that the wheat lines derived from crossing (Babacha×Sham8) and (Babacha×Sham10) were distinguished by immune reaction, as in the lines (1,4,6,7,8) at Al-Jamasa station, and resistant to moderate resistance at the Al-Ghab Research Center and Tal Hadiya Station, compared to the cultivated cultivars of bread wheat (Sham8 and Sham10) which showed a susceptible reaction. Using molecular markers (SSR), it was also revealed the presence of the resistance gene (Yr15) (specialized resistance and at all stages of growth) in the lines studied and in the Babacha line, in addition to the presence of the resistance genes (Yr29, Yr18) (resistance of adult plants at high temperatures and horizontal resistance) which confirms the transfer of these genes to the cultivated cultivars Sham8 and Sham10. The lines (8,4,7) resulting from the cross (Babacha×Sham8) were characterized by the highest average number of grains/spike (79.14,66,53.74) as well as the highest average weight of grains/spike (2.99,2.78,2.13) g respectively, compared to the number and weight of grains/spike in the cultivar Sham8 (35.58), (1.22) g respectively. The lines (6,2,4) also excelled the average weight of 1000 – grain weight (46.9,45.9,43.4) with significant differences over the cultivars Sham8 and Sham10 (33.0,28.3) g. The lines (5,3,7) also showed the highest average spike length with an average of (11.1,10.4,10.3) cm. These results confirm the importance of continuously enhancing released bread wheat cultivars and to be a carrier of resistance genes at both the seedling and adult plant stages to develop cultivars with durable resistance, and high yield production.

Keywords: Bread Wheat, Grain yield, Yellow Rust, Resistance genes.

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