The use of DNA markers in wheat breeding for resistance to loose smut (review)

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is an important and popular crop all over the world. An economically significant decrease in its yield is due to disease infection the most harmful of which is the loose smut (Ustilago tritici (Pers.) Rostr.). The most effective, cost – effective and environmentally friendly way to fight the disease is to create resistant varieties using molecular biological methods. The research gives an analysis of domestic and foreign literary sources over the past 10 years. The features of the biology of Ustilago tritici and its interaction with the host plant are presented. The possibilities and experience of using various PCR markers are considered both in the diagnosis and study of the causative agent of wheat smut, and in marker-assisted breeding (MAS-breeding) of disease-resistant cultivars. The importance of PCR as one of the most widespread modern, highly sensitive, specific, fast and economically affordable laboratory methods for detecting the causative agent of the disease, as well as studying its racial composition, is shown. The list of currently known genes, donor cultivars and DNA markers linked to genes and loci of wheat resistance to dust smut is analyzed. The above research results indicate that there is a sufficiently large database for the use of PCR markers in the creation of resistant wheat cultivars.