Molecular characterization of field resistance to Fusarium head blight in two US soft red winter wheat cultivars

Abstract

In the soft red winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) regions of the US, Fusarium head blight (FHB, caused by Fusarium spp.) resistance derived from locally adapted germplasm has been used predominantly. Two soft red winter wheat cultivars, Massey and Ernie, have moderate resistance to FHB. Mapping populations derived from Becker/Massey (B/M) and Ernie/MO 94-317 (E/MO) were evaluated for FHB resistance and other traits in multiple environments. Eight QTL in B/M and five QTL in E/MO were associated with FHB variables including incidence, severity (SEV), index (IND), Fusarium damaged kernels (FDK), deoxynivalenol (DON), and morphological traits flowering time and plant height. Four QTL were common to both populations. Three of them were located at or near known genes: Ppd-D1 on chromosome 2DS, Rht-B1 on 4BS, and Rht-D1 on 4DS. Alleles for dwarf plant height (Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b) and photoperiod insensitivity (Ppd-D1a) had pleiotropic effects in reducing height and increasing FHB susceptibility. The other QTL detected for FHB variables were on 3BL in both populations, 1AS, 1DS, 2BL, and 4DL in B/M, and 5AL (B1) and 6AL in E/MO. The additive effects of FHB variables ranged from 0.4 mg kg−1 of DON to 6.2 % for greenhouse (GH) SEV in B/M and ranged from 0.3 mg kg−1 of DON to 8.3 % for GH SEV in E/MO. The 4DS QTL had epistasis with Ppd-D1, Qdon.umc-6AL, and Qht.umc-4BS, and additive × additive × environment interactions with the 4BS QTL for SEV, IND, and FDK in E/MO. Marker-assisted selection might be used to enhance FHB resistance through selection of favorable alleles of significant QTL, taking into account genotypes at Rht-B1b, Rht-D1a and Ppd-D1a.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00122-013-2149-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Validation of Fusarium Head Blight Resistance QTL in US Winter Wheat

“…Although the mechanisms behind different types of FHB resistances may differ, we found that several of the identified QTL regions were associated with more than one type of resistance, which has also been reported in previous FHB studies with Ernie (Liu et al, 2007;Abate et al, 2008;Liu et al, 2013) and Truman (Islam et al, 2016). Twelve of these QTL were significant in more than one environment and/or for different resistance traits and were therefore considered reproducible.…”

“…Other studies have shown an increased susceptibility associated with the height-reducing alleles at the Rht-D1 locus (Draeger et al, 2007;Srinivasachary et al, 2008;Liu et al, 2013). In both cases, the Bess allele (Rht-D1a) conferred resistance compared with the NC-Neuse (Rht-D1b) allele.…”

Identification of Cephalosporium stripe resistance quantitative trait loci in two recombinant inbred line populations of winter wheat

“…Lillemo et al (2013) reported a QTL for the necrotrophic pathogen spot blotch (Bipolaris sorokiniana, telemorph Cochliobolus sativus) that co-locates to the locus Lr34, which provides resistance to leaf rust (Puccinia triticina Eriks). Some of these regions have also been related to disease resistance to other diseases, such as FHB (Fusarium gramineum) and Septoria tritici blotch (Zymoseptoria tritici), suggesting that either these regions are hot spots for multiple specific genes or for general genes that give resistance to multiple pathogens (Bovill et al 2006;Buerstmayr et al 2009;Cuthbert et al 2007;Liu et al 2013;Miedaner et al 2012;Muhovski et al 2012;Risser et al 2011). This is the same region where the QTL in 3BS from E/T and T/N (derived from Tubbs) was detected in this study, but it was not a QTL with strong effect and was detected in only one location for both populations.…”

Mapping of Fusarium Head Blight Resistance Quantitative Trait Loci in Winter Wheat Cultivar NC‐Neuse

“…Additionally, more than 50 peer reviewed publications have presented results on more than 250 QTL associated with several FHB resistance traits (reviewed by Buerstmayr et al, 2009;Liu et al, 2009;Löffler et al, 2009). Genetic studies involving U.S. soft red winter wheat sources have included the cultivars Ernie (Liu et al, 2005(Liu et al, , 2007Abate et al, 2008;Liu et al, 2013), Massey (Liu et al, 2013), Goldfield (Gilsinger et al, 2005), Freedom (Gupta et al, 2001), IL 94-1653 (Bonin and Kolb, 2009), and VA00W-38 (Liu et al, 2012). The demand for identification and mapping of resistance in native, well-adapted sources has therefore increased.…”

“…Currently, the USDA-ARS Eastern Regional Small Grains Genotyping Laboratory routinely screens winter wheat breeding nurseries for the FHB resistance QTL Fhb1 from Sumai 3, 2DL from Wuhan-1 or W14 (Somers et al, 2003), 5A from Ning 7840 (Gupta et al, 2001), 3BL from Massey (Liu et al, 2013), and 3Bc from Ernie (Liu et al, 2005(Liu et al, , 2007(Liu et al, , 2013. One of the limitations to using more QTL in MAS has been a lack of mapped QTL in native sources of resistance (Brown- Guedira et al, 2008).…”