Multi-locus genome-wide association studies reveal the genetic architecture of Fusarium head blight resistance in durum wheat

Jemanesh K Haile; Demissew Sertse; Amidou N'Diaye; Valentyna Klymiuk; Krystalee Wiebe; Yuefeng Ruan; Harmeet S Chawla; Maria-Antonia Henriquez; Lipu Wang; Hadley R Kutcher; Barbara Steiner; Hermann Buerstmayr; Curtis J Pozniak

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1182548

Multi-locus genome-wide association studies reveal the genetic architecture of Fusarium head blight resistance in durum wheat

Front Plant Sci. 2023 Oct 12:14:1182548. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1182548. eCollection 2023.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Plant Sciences, Crop Development Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
² Aquatic and Crop Resource Development, National Research Council Canada, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
³ Swift Current Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Swift Current, SK, Canada.
⁴ Department of Plant Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
⁵ Morden Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Morden, MB, Canada.
⁶ Department of Agrobiotechnology, Institute of Biotechnology in Plant Production, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Tulln, Austria.

Abstract

Durum wheat is more susceptible to Fusarium head blight (FHB) than other types or classes of wheat. The disease is one of the most devastating in wheat; it reduces yield and end-use quality and contaminates the grain with fungal mycotoxins such as deoxynivalenol (DON). A panel of 265 Canadian and European durum wheat cultivars, as well as breeding and experimental lines, were tested in artificially inoculated field environments (2019-2022, inclusive) and two greenhouse trials (2019 and 2020). The trials were assessed for FHB severity and incidence, visual rating index, Fusarium-damaged kernels, DON accumulation, anthesis or heading date, maturity date, and plant height. In addition, yellow pigment and protein content were analyzed for the 2020 field season. To capture loci underlying FHB resistance and related traits, GWAS was performed using single-locus and several multi-locus models, employing 13,504 SNPs. Thirty-one QTL significantly associated with one or more FHB-related traits were identified, of which nine were consistent across environments and associated with multiple FHB-related traits. Although many of the QTL were identified in regions previously reported to affect FHB, the QTL QFhb-3B.2, associated with FHB severity, incidence, and DON accumulation, appears to be novel. We developed KASP markers for six FHB-associated QTL that were consistently detected across multiple environments and validated them on the Global Durum Panel (GDP). Analysis of allelic diversity and the frequencies of these revealed that the lines in the GDP harbor between zero and six resistance alleles. This study provides a comprehensive assessment of the genetic basis of FHB resistance and DON accumulation in durum wheat. Accessions with multiple favorable alleles were identified and will be useful genetic resources to improve FHB resistance in durum breeding programs through marker-assisted recurrent selection and gene stacking.

Keywords: DON; FHB resistance; GDP; GWAS; KASP markers; durum wheat; multi-locus.

Grants and funding

The authors acknowledge funding provided by the “4D Wheat: Diversity, Domestication, Discovery and Delivery” project, funded by Genome Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Western Grains Research Foundation, Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission, Alberta Wheat Commission, Manitoba Crop Alliance, Ontario Research Fund, Viterra, Canadian Agricultural Partnership, and Illumina. We also acknowledge the administrative support of Genome Prairie.