The use of PI 277012-derived Fusarium head blight resistance QTL in winter wheat breeding

Venkata Rao Ganaparthi; Sagar Adhikari; Francois Marais; Bipin Neupane; Bradley Bisek

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15103

The use of PI 277012-derived Fusarium head blight resistance QTL in winter wheat breeding

Heliyon. 2023 Apr 5;9(4):e15103. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15103. eCollection 2023 Apr.

Authors

Venkata Rao Ganaparthi^{1

2}, Sagar Adhikari¹, Francois Marais¹, Bipin Neupane¹, Bradley Bisek¹

Affiliations

¹ Plant Sciences Department, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, 58108, USA.
² Coastal Research and Education Center, Clemson University, Charleston, SC, USA.

Abstract

Fusarium head blight (FHB) caused by Fusarium graminearum results in substantial grain yield and quality losses in common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Genetic resistance is partial but crucial for effective, integrated management of the disease. Host resistance is conditioned by numerous small effect quantitative trait loci (QTL) that are strongly affected by the environment and genetic background. Qfhb.rwg-5A.1 and Qfhb.rwg-5A.2 (PI 277012 is the source for both genes) are two recently discovered FHB resistance QTL that also occur in spring wheat GP80 (PI 277012 derivative). To transfer the PI 277012 resistance from GP80 to hard winter wheat (HWW), GP80 was first crossed with Novus-4. The F₁ hybrid was crossed with SY Monument, following which marker-selected progeny were crossed with, and backcrossed to, ND Noreen. To potential carriers of FHB resistance QTL among the 22 F₁ of the ND Noreen cross, simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, Illumina 90 K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) haplotypes and greenhouse FHB Type II resistance tests were done. Likely homozygotes for Qfhb.rwg.5A.1 and Qfhb.rwg.5A.2, were selected and backcrossed to ND Noreen. In the B₁F₁, 131 plants were evaluated for SNP haplotypes, SSR markers and FHB resistance. Nine B₁F_2:3 lines were derived, and their resistance confirmed in a third greenhouse FHB trial. The results suggested that eight lines had higher resistance and were comparable to GP80 with the Qfhb.rwg-5A.2 markers occurring in all eight and the Qfhb.rwg-5A.1 markers occurring in four lines. The eight selections constitute a valuable HWW resistance breeding resource.

Keywords: Fusarium head blight; Hard winter wheat; Pre-breeding; Qfhb.rwg.5A.2; Type II resistance.