Inheritance of leaf rust and stem rust resistances in wheat cultivars Agent and Agatha

The wheat cultivars Agent and Agatha each possess closely linked genes for resistance to Puccinia graminis tritici and P. recondita derived from Agropyron elongatum. The genes in Agent, located in chromosome 3D, were designated Sr24 and Lr24. The gene in Agatha for resistance to P. graminis tritici was designated Sr25 and is linked with Lr19 in chromosome 7D. Both Agent and Agatha possess additional genes for resistance to certain cultures of P. graminis tritici. Sr24 is considered a valuable source of resistance for wheat-breeding purposes, but Sr25 conferred an inadequate level of resistance to adult plants. A translocation from an A. elongatum chromosome to wheat chromosome 6A, present in Australian cultivars Eagle, Kite and Jabiru, carries a third gene, Sr26, for stem rust resistance.