Differential ozone responses of selected winter wheat genotypes

Authors: MASHAHEET, ASLAYED - Damanhour University; BURKEY, KENT - Former ARS Employee; Tisdale, Ripley; MARSHALL, DAVID - Former ARS Employee

Submitted to: Field Crops Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/18/2025
Publication Date: 6/24/2025
Citation: Mashaheet, A.M., Burkey, K.O., Tisdale, R.H., Marshall, D.S. 2025. Differential ozone responses of selected winter wheat genotypes. Field Crops Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2025.110053.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2025.110053

Interpretive Summary: Cereal crops are very susceptible to rust diseases. However, inclement weather and air pollution can increase risk of disease outbreaks. Evidence has shown that ozone air pollution can enhance rust disease severity in winter wheat, but information about what cereal crops are more sensitive to ozone pollution is limited. In this study, we evaluated ozone sensitivity from different genetic varieties of wheats, oats, barleys, and triticale hays and determined the ranking of ozone susceptibility is: spring wheats > winter wheats = oats > triticale hays > barleys. Additionally, we identified a soft red winter wheat breeding line, MD01W28-08-11, showing exceptional tolerance to ozone and an increased grain yield under high ozone concentrations. In light of MD01W28-08-11 is resistant to rust diseases, this study add-in value of MD01W28-08-11 as an excellent breeding material for both rust diseases and ozone pollution resilience. This discovery provides a foundation for improving wheat resilience to major stress factors.

Technical Abstract: Ozone (O3) air pollution and the emerging races of stem rust, caused by Puccinia graminis Pers. f. sp. tritici Eriks. & E. Henn. (Pgt), continue to pose severe threats to global wheat production and food security. The identification of potential wheat breeding material showing combined differential rust resistance and O3 tolerance is a key step for developing resilient wheat varieties. We investigated the visible O3 symptom responses of 31 key historic and current genotypes of wheat, barley, oat and triticale in continuous stirred-tank reactors (CSTRs) with four O3 treatments (sub-ambient O3, 50, 75 or 100 ppb for 8h d-1) at early growth stage. The ranking of overall O3 sensitivity among the tested cereals was spring wheat > winter wheat = winter oat > winter triticale > winter barley. The tested varieties of soft red winter wheat were more tolerant than the hard red winter wheat. The soft red winter wheat breeding line MD01W28-08-11 exhibited exceptional tolerance to O3 with negligible symptoms and sustained or increased grain yield under elevated O3 concentrations applied during the post-heading stage in open top chambers (OTCs). In contrast, soft red winter wheat cultivar ‘Coker 9553’ showed significantly higher O3 sensitivity in terms of visible symptoms and yield loss. Given the contrasting O3 tolerance and rust resistance, MD01W28-08-11 (O3-tolerant, Pgt-resistant) and ‘Coker 9553’ (O3-sensitive, Pgt-susceptible) provide excellent materials for breeding programs to improve stress tolerance as well as studies on the interaction of O3 air pollution and rust diseases.