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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Cereal Crops Improvement Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #415534
Research Project: Improvement of Disease and Pest Resistance in Barley, Durum, Oat, and Wheat Using Genetics and Genomics

Location: Cereal Crops Improvement Research

Title: Genetic mapping of QTLs for resistance to bacterial leaf streak in hexaploid wheat

Author
item ACHARYA, KRISHNA - North Dakota State University
item LIU, ZHAOHIU - North Dakota State University
item SCHACHTERLE, JEFFREY - Brigham Young University
item MANAN, FAZAL - North Dakota State University
item Xu, Steven
item GREEN, ANDREW - North Dakota State University
item Faris, Justin

Submitted to: Theoretical and Applied Genetics
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/18/2024
Publication Date: 11/13/2024
Citation: Acharya, K., Liu, Z., Schachterle, J., Manan, F., Xu, S.S., Green, A., Faris, J.D. 2024. Genetic mapping of QTLs for resistance to bacterial leaf streak in hexaploid wheat. Theoretical and Applied Genetics. 137:article 265. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-024-04767-x.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-024-04767-x

Interpretive Summary: The disease called bacterial leaf streak (BLS) poses a significant threat to global wheat production because no modern wheat varieties possess genetic resistance to the disease and no other form of control exists. Here, researchers evaluated over 100 different wheat lines and found five that showed good levels of genetic resistance to BLS. In-depth genetic analysis of two of the most resistant lines showed that one line contained two BLS resistance genes and the second line contained one gene that was different from the two identified in the first line. This research is the first to identify valuable BLS resistance genes in wheat, and the knowledge acquired from this research will aid wheat breeders in the development of BLS-resistant wheat varieties.

Technical Abstract: Bacterial leaf streak (BLS), caused by Xanthomonas translucens pv. undulosa (Xtu) poses a significant threat to global wheat production. High levels of BLS resistance are rare in hexaploid wheat. Here, we screened 101 diverse wheat genotypes under greenhouse conditions to identify new sources of BLS resistance. Five lines showed good levels of resistance including the wheat variety Boost and the synthetic hexaploid wheat line W-7984. Recombinant inbred populations derived from the cross of Boost × ND830 (BoostND population) and W-7984 × Opata 85 (ITMI population) were subsequently evaluated in greenhouse and field experiments to investigate the genetic basis of resistance. QTLs on chromosomes 3B, 5A, and 5B were identified in the BoostND population. The 3B and 5A QTLs were significant in all environments, but the 3B QTL was the strongest under greenhouse conditions explaining 38% of the phenotypic variation, and the 5A QTL was the most significant in the field explaining up to 29% of the variation. In the ITMI population, a QTL on chromosome 7D explained as much as 46% of the phenotypic variation in the greenhouse and 18% in the field. BLS severity in both populations was negatively correlated with days to heading, and some QTLs for these traits overlapped, which explained the tendency of later maturing lines to have relatively higher levels of BLS resistance. The findings from this study will contribute to a better understanding of BLS resistance and aid in the development of molecular markers for efficient selection of resistance alleles in wheat breeding programs.