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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Logan, Utah » Forage and Range Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #419073
Research Project: Improved Plant Genetic Resources and Methods to ensure Resilient and Productive Rangelands, Pastures, and Turf Landscapes

Location: Forage and Range Research

Title: Evaluation of disease resistance in intermediate wheatgrass and genome wide association for fusarium head blight related traits

Author
item TREFFLER, LEIGH - The Land Institute
item CRAIN, JARED - Kansas State University
item Larson, Steven
item Thompson, Yvonne
item TURNER, M. KATHRYN - The Land Institute

Submitted to: Crop Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/21/2026
Publication Date: 7/16/2026
Citation: Treffer, L. K., Crain, J., Larson, S. R., Thompson, Y. A., & Turner, M. K. (2026). Evaluation of disease resistance in intermediate wheatgrass and genome-wide association for fusarium head blight-related traits. Crop Science, 66, e70316. https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.70316
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.70316

Interpretive Summary: Intermediate wheatgrass is a promising perennial grain candidate that The Land Institute has been working to domesticate since 2001. Grain from intermediate wheatgrass can be sold under the trademark Kernza. We evaluated two generations of intermediate wheatgrass evaluate disease response and identify chromosomal regions associated with resistance to disease. Resistance genes were mapped for 19 different disease traits. A total of 209 chromosome locations were detected across 15 different traits with five of these traits related to Fusarium head blight resistance. Candidate genes were identified for Fusarium head blight resistance including genes with functions associated with toxin reduction, defense hormones and metabolites. These results offer insights into understanding intermediate wheatgrass resistance to Fusarium head blight.

Technical Abstract: ntermediate wheatgrass (IWG) [Thiniopyrum intermedium (Host) Barkworth & D. R. Dewey] is a promising perennial grain candidate that The Land Institute (TLI) has been directly domesticating since 2001. Grain from IWG can be sold under the trademark Kernza. We evaluated two breeding cycles of IWG from 2018-2022 with each cycle containing ~500 unique genets to evaluate disease response and identify chromosomal regions associated with resistance to disease. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) were mapped for 19 different traits using 32,067 markers in 21 linkage groups with genome-wide association analysis. A total of 209 unique marker-trait associations (MTA) were detected across 15 different traits with five of these traits related to Fusarium head blight (FHB) resistance. We additionally used the BLAST Alignment Creation tool to identify homologies between the FHB1 region of wheat and the IWG genome, including an IWG GDSL-like lipase/acylhydrolase gene (Thintv31194873.m.g) with similarity (query = 89%) to the T. aestivum Sumai 3 FHB1 genomic sequence. Other candidate genes outside of the FHB1 region were identified for fusarium resistance with functions associated with toxin reduction and defense hormones and metabolites. These results offer insights into understanding IWG’s genetic resistance to FHB.