Wheat lines carrying Ug99-effective stem rust resistance gene Sr43 on shortened alien chromosome segments were produced using chromosome engineering, and molecular markers linked to Sr43 were identified for marker-assisted selection. Stem rust resistance gene Sr43, transferred into common wheat (Triticum aestivum) from Thinopyrum ponticum, is an effective gene against stem rust Ug99 races. However, this gene has not been used in wheat breeding because it is located on a large Th. ponticum 7el(2) chromosome segment, which also harbors genes for undesirable traits. The objective of this study was to eliminate excessive Th. ponticum chromatin surrounding Sr43 to make it usable in wheat breeding. The two original translocation lines KS10-2 and KS24-1 carrying Sr43 were first analyzed using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers and florescent genomic in situ hybridization. Six SSR markers located on wheat chromosome arm 7DL were identified to be associated with the Th. ponticum chromatin in KS10-2 and KS24-1. The results confirmed that KS24-1 is a 7DS·7el(2)L Robertsonian translocation as previously reported. However, KS10-2, which was previously designated as a 7el(2)S·7el(2)L-7DL translocation, was identified as a 7DS-7el(2)S·7el(2)L translocation. To reduce the Th. ponticum chromatin carrying Sr43, a BC(2)F(1) population (Chinese Spring//Chinese Spring ph1bph1b*2/KS10-2) containing ph1b-induced homoeologous recombinants was developed, tested with stem rust, and genotyped with the six SSR markers identified above. Two new wheat lines (RWG33 and RWG34) carrying Sr43 on shortened alien chromosome segments (about 17.5 and 13.7 % of the translocation chromosomes, respectively) were obtained, and two molecular markers linked to Sr43 in these lines were identified. The new wheat lines with Sr43 and the closely linked markers provide new resources for improving resistance to Ug99 and other races of stem rust in wheat.

The stem rust (Puccinia graminis Pers.:Pers. f.sp. tritici Eriks. and Henn.) resistance gene Sr39, which confers resistance to TTKSK (Ug99), has been incorporated into the wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genome from Aegilops speltoides in the form of a chromosome translocation but it has not been deployed into adapted cultivars. In this study, we characterized translocation lines carrying Sr39 in four different wheat backgrounds with fluorescent genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. The results indicated that RL5711 and RL6082 had translocation chromosomes of comparable structure. The translocation chromosome in PI 600683 has lost Ae. speltoides chromatin in the telomeric end of the 2S long arm. Six translocation lines derived from the cross PI 600683/3*HY438 had translocation chromosomes of comparable structure to the one found in PI 600683. However, one line (P9714‐AM03C51), showed a substantial reduction in Ae. speltoides chromatin in the short arm of the translocated chromosome. The study demonstrated that it is apparently feasible to shorten Ae. speltoides chromatin in some wheat‐Ae. speltoides translocation lines. These results and the identification of diagnostic SSR markers will be useful in guiding chromosome manipulation efforts to further shorten the Ae. speltoides chromosome segments in these materials. Greenhouse inoculation of translocation lines with stem rust indicated that the Sr39 gene conditions resistance to at least seven stem rust races.

Fusarium head blight (FHB), caused by Fusarium graminearum Schwabe (teleomorph Gibberella zeae (Schwein.) Petch), is one of the major diseases of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) in eastern China, the Upper Midwest of the USA, and the eastern Prairie Provinces of Canada. To identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) controlling FHB resistance, a recombinant inbred line population (F6:7) was developed from the cross Zhenongda 7/PI 643302. The population was phenotyped for resistance to FHB in two experiments in China and four experiments in North Dakota. Accumulation of the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol was determined in one experiment in China and two in North Dakota. Simplified composite interval mapping was performed on the whole genome level using the software MQTL. The QTL FHB-2 from PI 643302 for FHB resistance was found on the distal portion of chromosome 2HL in all six FHB screening environments. This QTL accounted for 14% of phenotypic variation over six environments and was not associated with heading date or plant height. The FHB resistance QTL FHB-2 detected near the end of chromosome 2HL is in a different location from those found previously and is therefore probably unique. Because the QTL was not contributed by the Chinese cultivar Zhenongda 7, it is likely a native QTL present in North American barley. The QTL FHB-2 represents the first reported QTL for native FHB resistance in North American germ plasm and has been given the provisional name Qrgz-2H-14. This QTL should be considered for pyramiding with other FHB QTL previously mapped.

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