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ARS Home » Plains Area » Manhattan, Kansas » Center for Grain and Animal Health Research » Hard Winter Wheat Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #291314
Title: Fusarium head blight resistance in U.S. winter wheat cultivars and elite breeding lines

Author
item JIN, FENG - Kansas State University
item ZHANG, DADONG - Kansas State University
item BOCKUS, WILLIAM - Kansas State University
item BAENZIGER, STEPHEN - University Of Nebraska
item CARVER, BRETT - Oklahoma State University
item Bai, Guihua

Submitted to: Crop Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/15/2013
Publication Date: 7/12/2013
Citation: Jin, F., Zhang, D., Bockus, W., Baenziger, S., Carver, B., Bai, G. 2013. Fusarium head blight resistance in U.S. winter wheat cultivars and elite breeding lines. Crop Science. 53:2006-2013.

Interpretive Summary: Fusarium head blight (FHB), also called scab, is a destructive disease of wheat worldwide. In the Great Plains, FHB epidemics are becoming more frequent and severe. Growing resistant cultivars is one of the most effective strategies to reduce damage by FHB. To characterize FHB resistance in U.S. wheat germplasm, we analyzed 363 U.S. winter wheat accessions for FHB resistance in both greenhouse and field experiments. The majority of tested accessions were either moderately or highly susceptible; only 6-7% of the accessions showed a high level of resistance. We found that near-isogenic lines carrying Fhb1, a FHB resistance gene from Suma'3 (a Chinese line) showed significantly higher levels of resistance than their recurrent parents. Some resistant lines without Fhb1 also showed a high level of resistance so they contain genes different from Fhb1. Thus, transferring Fhb1 into most US wheat cultivars should improve FHB resistance. Accessions without Fhb1 that showed consistent resistance may be good sources for stacking native resistance genes from U.S. wheat with Fhb1.

Technical Abstract: Fusarium (Fusarium graminearum) head blight (FHB) is a destructive disease of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) worldwide. To characterize FHB resistance in U.S. wheat germplasm, 363 U.S. winter wheat accessions were repeatedly evaluated for FHB resistance. A high correlation (r = 0.73, P < 0.001) for mean percentages of symptomatic spikelets (PSS) was observed between greenhouse and field experiments. The majority of tested accessions were either moderately or highly susceptible; only 7% of the accessions in the greenhouse and 6% of the accessions in the field showed a high level of resistance. Mean PSS for 23 accessions that carry marker Xumn10 for Fhb1, a major quantitative trait locus (QTL) from ‘Sumai3’, are 35.4% in the greenhouse and 32.3% in field experiments. Further analysis of the Xsnp3BS-8 marker for Fhb1 indicated that only four of the seven non-NIL genotypes with the marker Xumn10 actually carry the Fhb1 allele for FHB resistance. Fifty-four wheat accessions lacking Fhb1 showed at least a moderately high level of FHB resistance in the greenhouse and/or field. These included three resistant accessions, 35 moderately resistant accessions, and 16 accessions that showed different levels of resistance in greenhouse and field experiments. Accessions without Fhb1 that showed consistent resistance in both field and greenhouse experiments may be good sources for pyramiding native resistance QTLs from U.S. wheat with Fhb1.