2010 Annual Report 1a.Objectives (from AD-416) The objective of the cooperative research between Virginia Tech University and the USDA Agricultural Research Service is to evaluate, identify, and develop sources of resistance to stem rust in wheat and barley. 1b.Approach (from AD-416) Virginia Tech University will identify and obtain sources of stem rust resistance in cooperation with the USDA/ARS Plant Science Research Unit (PSRU), Barley CAP participants, and other collaborating breeding programs. These sources of resistance will be used as parents in the breeding program to introgress stem rust resistance into advanced breeding lines of winter wheat and barley. Top and/or backcrosses to adapted elite lines will be made to develop desirable segregating populations. When available molecular markers for known sources of stem rust resistance will be used to characterize parental lines and in marker assisted transfer and selection of resistance. Segregating populations developed from the introgressions will be inbred and advanced using traditional and/or marker assisted breeding methods when markers are available. Pure lines selected from advance breeding populations will be genotyped using available molecular markers and phenotypes for reaction to stem rust will be obtained in cooperative disease screening experiments conducted in field, greenhouse and/or growth chamber trials. Elite lines having stem rust resistance will be evaluated in regional and uniform yield nurseries, and superior lines will be released as cultivars. Data and germplasm will be shared between ARS, Virginia Tech, and other collaborating scientists. 3.Progress Report This research relates to inhouse objective 1: Identify sources of resistance to foliar fungal pathogens and introgress resistance into adapted wheat. New sources of resistance to stem rust, race Ug99, were incorporated into elite germplasm from the Virginia Tech soft wheat breeding program. Elite lines having stem rust resistance were genotyped for seven stem rust resistance genes. Elite barley germplasm was also genotyped for stem rust resistance genes, and sources of adult-plant resistance to Ug99 stem rust were crossed with germplasm from Virginia Tech University. Monitored progress with the cooperator by phone and email. A research planning and results meeting was held at ARS in Raleigh in August.