Wheat rust diseases, due to their ability of rapidly changing new pathogenic races and their wind-borne nature of spread, threaten wheat production around the world. The introduction of resistance genes into the host is the most economical, farmer and environmentally friendly strategy to avoid yield loss due to the rust epidemics. Wild relatives of wheat especially Aegilops species belonging to tertiary genepool are not only an excellent source of diseases resistance genes but also dynamic resources for unique traits that are mostly absent in cultivated breed wheat. In current study, the leaf rust resistance gene Lr28 present in isogenic line derives from Aegilops speltoides, were used as a male parent to improve rust resistance of local high yielding mega cultivars of wheat i.e. Galaxy-13. In the preliminary study, we have made desired crosses (rust-resistant wild wheat relatives × rust susceptible commercial cultivars) and developed biparental and multiparental populations through conventional breeding. The result revealed that beside the rust resistance in progenies, interestingly, we have observed some additional traits or modified /altered phenotypes in plant architecture and inflorescences like branched spikes/heads, compact or multiple spikelets in the pyramided progenies. Also, some pyramided progenies showed extraordinary tillering and re-sprouting ability, broad leaves with high green biomass, more leaves to stem ratio which may favor the commercialization of final selected lines as dual-purpose wheat (food grains for humans and green fodder for livestock) as well as can be best suited for low input and organic farming, especially related to chemical less wheat cultivation. The study will help us to explore the possibilities of genomic, genetic and epigenetic interventions and find easy ways to change the ideotypes of innovative crop. Observations of this common alteration in phenotypes will encourage plant scientists to relate theses phenotypes with genomes, chromosomes, and genes of wild wheat, bread wheat, and common wheat in comparative way.
