GWAS for stripe rust resistance in wild emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccoides) population: Obstacles and solutions

Authors: TENE, MAY - Tel Aviv University; ADHIKARI, ELINA - Kansas State University; COBO, NICOLAS - University Of California, Davis; JORDAN, KATHERINE - Kansas State University; MATNY, OADI - University Of Minnesota; DEL BLANCO, ISABEL - University Of California, Davis; ROTER, JONATHAN - Tel Aviv University; EZRATI, SMADAR - Tel Aviv University; GOVTA, LIUBOV - University Of Haifa; MANISTERSKI, JACOB - Tel Aviv University; YEHUDA, PNINA - Tel Aviv University; Chen, Xianming; STEFFENSON, BRIAN - University Of Minnesota; AKHUNOV, EDUARD - Kansas State University; SELA, HANAN - Tel Aviv University

Submitted to: Crops
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/25/2022
Publication Date: 3/2/2022
Citation: Tene, M., Adhikari, E., Cobo, N., Jordan, K.W., Matny, O., del Blanco, I.A., Roter, J., Ezrati, S., Govta, L., Manisterski, J., Yehuda, P.B., Chen, X., Steffenson, B., Akhunov, E., Sela, H. 2022. GWAS for stripe rust resistance in wild emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccoides) population: Obstacles and solutions. Crops. 2(1):42-61. https://doi.org/10.3390/crops2010005.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/crops2010005

Interpretive Summary: Stripe rust is a devastating disease of wheat causing substantial yield loss around the globe. The most effective strategy to mitigate yield loss is to develop resistant cultivars. The wild relatives of wheat, such as wild emmer, are a good source of resistance to fungal pathogens, including stripe rust. Here, we used a genome wide association scan (GWAS) to identify loci associated with disease resistance both in the seedling and in the adult plant stages. The performance of multiple-locus GWAS models was higher than that of the single-locus models. We found that the two major loci contributing to resistance in our wild emmer panel are the previously cloned seedling stage resistance gene Yr15 and adult plant stage resistance gene Yr36. Nevertheless, we detected additional 12 minor quantitative trait loci that additively contribute to adult plant resistance and mapped a locus on chromosome 3AS that tentatively harbors a novel seedling resistance gene. The genetically and phenotypically characterized panel of wild emmer and detected simple sequence repeats associated with resistance to stripe rust provide a valuable resource for disease resistance breeding in durum and bread wheat.

Technical Abstract: Stripe rust is a devastating disease of wheat causing substantial yield loss around the globe. The most effective strategy to mitigate yield loss is to develop resistant cultivars. The wild relatives of wheat, such as wild emmer (Triticum dicoccoides), are a good source of resistance to fungal pathogens, including stripe rust. Here, we used a genome wide association scan (GWAS) to identify loci associated with disease resistance both in the seedling and in the adult plant stages. The performance of multiple-locus GWAS models was higher than that of the single-locus models. We found that the two major loci contributing to resistance in our wild emmer panel are the previously cloned seedling stage resistance gene Yr15 and adult plant stage resistance gene Yr36. Nevertheless, we detected additional 12 minor QTL that additively contribute to adult plant resistance and mapped a locus on chromosome 3AS that tentatively harbors a novel seedling resistance gene. The genetically and phenotypically characterized panel of wild emmer and detected SNPs associated with resistance to stripe rust provide a valuable resource for disease resistance breeding in durum and bread wheat.