Stripe rust (caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici) of wheat (Triticum aestivum) is a devastating disease in temperate regions when susceptible varieties are grown and environmental conditions sustain high disease pressures. With frequent and severe outbreaks, disease resistance is a key tool for controlling stripe rust on wheat. The goal of this research was to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) involved in stripe rust resistance from the important US Pacific Northwest soft white winter wheat varieties "Eltan" and "Finch". An F 2:5 recombinant inbred line (RIL) mapping population of 151 individuals derived from the FinchˆEltan cross was developed through single seed descent. A linkage map comprising 683 unique single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci and 70 SSR markers were used to develop 22 linkage groups consisting of 16 of the 21 chromosomes. Stripe rust data were collected on the RILs during the summers of 2012 to 2014. QTL analysis identified two genomic regions on chromosomes 4A (QYrel.wak-4A) and 6B (QYrfi.wak-6B) associated with resistance from Eltan and Finch, respectively. The results of the QTL analysis showed that QYrel.wak-4A and QYrfi.wak-6B reduced infection type and disease severity. Based upon both molecular and phenotypic differences, QYrel.wak-4A is a novel QTL for adult plant resistance (APR) to stripe rust.

Modern wheat is lacking diversity in the D genome due to the genetic bottleneck from the hybridization between tetraploid Triticum turgidum L. and diploid Aegilops tauschii Coss. The D‐genome nested association mapping (DNAM) population (Reg. no. MP‐14, NSL 536301 MAP) was developed to expand D‐genome variation in hexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The DNAM population is a wheat nested association mapping population developed with direct crosses between the hard‐white winter Kansas State University breeding line KS05HW14‐3 and Ae. tauschii accessions TA10187, TA1693, TA10171, TA1662, TA1617, TA1615, TA1642, and TA1718. In total, there are 1,164 BC₂F₄ recombinant inbred lines (RILs) in 19 families. The DNAM was originally created for introgression of novel stem rust resistance genes but has since been used to identify resistance to other fungal pathogens. A subset of 420 lines were selected for important agronomic traits, including height and threshability, and named the DNAM Core RILs. Research with the DNAM has potential to provide novel genes that can be introgressed into elite cultivars, as well as knowledge and understanding of the D genome in wheat.

It is never known how well new cultivars will perform under commercial production until they are released and grown across different environments. Every cultivar released has a different impact on the region for which it was intended. Some cultivars are in commercial production for only a few years, whereas others are cultivated for decades. 'Madsen', a soft white winter wheat released in 1988 for production in the Pacific Northwest (PNW), has been in commercial production for 30 years. Once the dominant cultivar grown in the PNW, Madsen was produced mainly because of its high yield potential and excellent biotic stress resistance. Currently, Madsen is grown on limited hectares, replaced by many cultivars with higher yield potential; yet its legacy has gone far beyond commercial production. Madsen has been the parent of over 45 released cultivars, many of which were the lines that replaced it in commercial production. It is used as a parent mainly because of its excellent disease resistance to common diseases of the PNW. Madsen has also been used in research projects to identify disease resistance genes. In some cases Madsen was found to be carrying resistance genes the breeder was not aware of but were discovered later in research or field screenings. In this paper, we review the history of Madsen to determine what made it such a successful cultivar and parental line. Data were collected from multiple field trials and research papers and summarized for review.

Soft white club winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L. ssp. compactum) represents 8-10% of the wheat crop in Washington, but most of the current club wheat production is located in the <350-mm annual precipitation zone. Our goal was to develop a club wheat cultivar targeted to the >350-mm annual precipitation zones of the Pacific Northwest. 'ARS Crescent' (Reg. no. CV-1181, PI 665048), an awned white-kernel club wheat, was selected using the bulk-pedigree breeding method from the cross 'Dusty'//'Madsen' sib/Dusty///WA7665/'Rulo'. At the time of release, ARS Crescent was rated as resistant to stripe rust races PSTv-4 and PSTv-51, segregating for resistance to race PSTv-37, and susceptible to races PSTv-14 and PSTv-40 in the seedling stage. In the adult-plant stage in the field, ARS Crescent has demonstrated hightemperature adult plant resistance to stripe rust. Several years after release, the grain yields of ARS Crescent are equivalent to the club wheat 'Bruehl' and to soft white wheat checks for all growing regions. ARS Crescent combines better test weight than Bruehl with better resistance to environmental conditions that result in low falling numbers in wheat. ARS Crescent has excellent milling properties and greater sponge cake volume than other club wheat cultivars and increases the quality of the crop in Washington.

The Finch-Eltan winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) recombinant inbred line (RIL) population (Reg. No. MP-11, NSL 528074 MAP) was developed by Washington State University from soft white winter wheat cultivars 'Finch' and 'Eltan'. This population of 155 RILs was developed by single seed descent from the F 2 generation to the F 5 generation. It was genotyped using the 9k iSelect single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chip, simple sequence repeat markers, and 90k iSelect SNPs. A total of 1258 markers were polymorphic and were mapped to 21 linkage groups that locate to 15 of the wheat chromosomes. The population has been phenotyped to study the genetics of freezing tolerance, snow mold tolerance, stripe rust resistance, straw residue breakdown, and Cephalosporium (Cephalosporium gramineum) stripe resistance. Markers were identiied that are closely linked to quantitative trait loci (QTL) that inluence these traits, and there is potential for this population to be used to detect QTL for other traits. Because the parents are elite breeding lines developed for the US Paciic Northwest, this population is particularly well-suited to facilitating breeding eforts in this region.