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ARS Home » Midwest Area » St. Paul, Minnesota » Cereal Disease Lab » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #331470
Title: Development and verification of wheat germplasm containing both Sr2 and Fhb1

Author
item ZHANG, XIAOFEI - University Of Minnesota
item Rouse, Matthew - Matt
item NAVA, ITAMAR - University Of Minnesota
item Jin, Yue
item ANDERSON, JAMES - University Of Minnesota

Submitted to: Molecular Breeding
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/30/2016
Publication Date: 7/1/2016
Citation: Zhang, X., Rouse, M.N., Nava, I., Jin, Y., Anderson, J. 2016. Development and verification of wheat germplasm containing both Sr2 and Fhb1. Molecular Breeding. 36(85):1-14. doi: 10.1007/s11032-016-0502-y.

Interpretive Summary: Wheat stem rust and Fusarium head blight (FHB) are devastating fungal diseases of wheat. A strain of the wheat stem rust fungus known as Ug99 emerged in Uganda in 1999 and threatens global wheat production because it is able to infect nearly all wheat varieties. Fhb1 is a well-known major quantitative trait locus (QTL) effective against FHB, and Sr2 is the most widely characterized and deployed wheat stem rust adult plant resistance gene effective to Ug99. These two genes are located on the same chromosome arm in wheat and wheat varieties exist with neither gene, Fhb1 alone, Sr2 alone, but no varieties exist with both genes combined. We used molecular markers linked to both genes in combination with stem rust and FHB disease testing to derive wheat lines with both Fhb1 and Sr2 combined. These wheat lines will benefit efforts to breed for resistance to both FHB and stem rust.

Technical Abstract: Fusarium head blight (FHB) and stem rust are two devastating fungal diseases of common wheat prevalent worldwide. Fhb1 is a well-known major quantitative trait locus (QTL) effective against FHB, and Sr2 is the most widely characterized and deployed wheat stem rust adult plant resistance gene. These genes are linked in repulsion phase, approximately 5 cM apart, on chromosome 3B. To obtain wheat germplasm containing both Fhb1 and Sr2, we developed and screened two F2 populations using tightly linked DNA markers, gwm533, csSr2, UMN10, and a newly designed marker UMN10v2. After testing with UMN10v2 and gwm533, out of 1,949 F2 plants, 43 were identified with Fhb1 and Sr2 genes in coupling phase. Using the markers above and vernalization gene markers, 59 spring wheat lines with homozygous Fhb1 and Sr2 were obtained. Field disease resistance evaluation verified that all these recombinant lines showed moderate or high levels of resistance to both FHB and stem rust. This germplasm would benefit efforts to breed for resistance to FHB and stem rust, and the procedure to obtain recombinants are adaptable to other wheat breeding programs.