Abstract

Wheat powdery mildew, caused by Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici ( Bgt ), severely threatens global wheat production. In this study, the cultivated emmer accession CWI16926-4Y exhibits high-level and broad-spectrum resistance at both seedling and adult plant stages. Genetic analysis reveals that the powdery mildew resistance in CWI16926-4Y is controlled by a single dominant gene, designated PmCWI16926 . Employing bulked segregant RNA analysis combined with high-density mapping, a 590 kb physical interval (21.70-22.29 Mb) on chromosome 2BS is delimited and referenced against the durum wheat cv. Svevo genome assembly. Within the interval, we identify two NLR-type genes, with TRITD2Bv1G010140 emerging as the most promising candidate based on pathogen-induced expression and a unique haplotype. Moreover, we validate four co-segregated markers and a gene-specific marker, enabling marker-assisted transfer of PmCWI16926 into elite cultivars in breeding. This study expands the repertoire of deployable Pm genes from emmer wheat and provides additional genetic tools for resistance breeding.