Genome-wide association analysis of type II resistance to Fusarium head blight in common wheat

Dehua Wang; Yunzhe Zhao; Xinying Zhao; Mengqi Ji; Xin Guo; Jichun Tian; Guangfeng Chen; Zhiying Deng

doi:10.7717/peerj.15906

Genome-wide association analysis of type II resistance to Fusarium head blight in common wheat

PeerJ. 2023 Sep 21:11:e15906. doi: 10.7717/peerj.15906. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Dehua Wang^#¹, Yunzhe Zhao^#¹, Xinying Zhao¹, Mengqi Ji¹, Xin Guo², Jichun Tian^{1

3}, Guangfeng Chen⁴, Zhiying Deng¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an, Shandong, China.
² Taiyuan Agro-Tech Extension and Service Center, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China.
³ Shandong Huatian Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd, Tai'an, Shandong, China.
⁴ College of Ecology and Garden Architecture, Dezhou University, Dezhou, Shandong, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a disease affecting wheat spikes caused by some Fusarium species and leads to cases of severe yield reduction and seed contamination. Identifying resistance genes/QTLs from wheat germplasm may help to improve FHB resistance in wheat production.

Methods: Our study evaluated 205 elite winter wheat cultivars for FHB resistance. A high-density 90K SNP array was used for genotyping the panel. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) from cultivars from three different environments was performed using a mixed linear model (MLM).

Results: Sixty-six significant marker-trait associations (MTAs) were identified (P < 0.001) on fifteen chromosomes that explained the phenotypic variation ranging from 5.4 to 11.2%. Some important new MTAs in genomic regions involving FHB resistance were found on chromosomes 2A, 3B, 5B, 6A, and 7B. Six MTAs at 92 cM on chromosome 7B were found in cultivars from two different environments. Moreover, there were 11 MTAs consistently associated with diseased spikelet rate and diseased rachis rate as pleiotropic effect loci and D_contig74317_533 on chromosome 5D was novel for FHB resistance. Eight new candidate genes of FHB resistance were predicated in wheat in this study. Three candidate genes, TraesCS5D02G006700, TraesCS6A02G013600, and TraesCS7B02G370700 on chromosome 5DS, 6AS, and 7BL, respectively, were perhaps important in defending against FHB by regulating intramolecular transferase activity, GTP binding, or chitinase activity in wheat, but further validation in needed. In addition, a total of five favorable alleles associated with wheat FHB resistance were discovered. These results provide important genes/loci for enhancing FHB resistance in wheat breeding by marker-assisted selection.

Keywords: Fusarium head blight; GWAS; MTA; SNP; Wheat.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Conjunctivitis, Bacterial*
Fusarium*
Genome-Wide Association Study
Keratoconjunctivitis*
Moraxellaceae Infections*
Plant Breeding
Quantitative Trait Loci / genetics
Triticum / genetics

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Agricultural Improved Variety Project of Shandong Province (No. 2022LZGCQY002), the Agricultural Improved Variety Project of Tai’an City (2022NYLZ06), and the Shandong Province Postgraduate Education Tutor Capacity Improvement Program (No. SDYY18114). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.