Genome-wide association analysis in tetraploid wheat revealed novel and diverse loci for seedling and field resistance to stripe rust in elite spring durum wheat accessions from worldwide. Improving resistance to stripe rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici, is a major objective for wheat breeding. To identify effective stripe rust resistance loci, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted using 232 elite durum wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. durum) lines from worldwide breeding programs. Genotyping with the 90 K iSelect wheat single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array resulted in 11,635 markers distributed across the genome. Response to stripe rust infection at the seedling stage revealed resistant and susceptible accessions present in rather balanced frequencies for the six tested races, with a higher frequency of susceptible responses to United States races as compared to Italian races (61.1 vs. 43.1% of susceptible accessions). Resistance at the seedling stage only partially explained adult plant resistance, which was found to be more frequent with 67.7% of accessions resistant across six nurseries in the United States. GWAS identified 82 loci associated with seedling stripe rust resistance, five of which were significant at the false discovery rate adjusted P value <0.1 and 11 loci were detected for the field response at the adult plant stages in at least two environments. Notably, Yrdurum-1BS.1 showed the largest effect for both seedling and field resistance, and is therefore considered as a major locus for resistance in tetraploid wheat. Our GWAS study is the first of its kind for stripe rust resistance in tetraploid wheat and provides an overview of resistance in elite germplasm and reports new loci that can be used in breeding resistant cultivars.

Stripe rust of wheat, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), is a global concern for wheat production, and has been increasingly destructive in Ethiopia, as well as in the United States and in many other countries. As Ethiopia has a long history of stripe rust epidemics, its native wheat germplasm harbors potentially valuable resistance loci. Moreover, the Ethiopian germplasm has been historically underutilized in breeding of modern wheat worldwide and thus the resistance alleles from the Ethiopian germplasm represent potentially novel sources. The objective of this study was to identify loci conferring resistance to predominant Pst races in Ethiopia and the United States. Using a high-density 90 K wheat single nucleotide polymorphism array, a genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) was conducted on 182 durum wheat landrace accessions and contemporary varieties originating from Ethiopia. Landraces were detected to be more resistant at the seedling stage while cultivars were more resistant at the adult-plant stages. GWAS identified 68 loci associated with seedling resistance to one or more races. Six loci on chromosome arms 1AS, 1BS, 3AS, 4BL, and 5BL were associated with resistance against at least two races at the seedling stage, and five loci were previously undocumented. GWAS analysis of field resistance reactions identified 12 loci associated with resistance on chromosomes 1A, 1B, 2BS, 3BL, 4AL, 4B and 5AL, which were detected in at least two of six field screening nurseries at the adult-plant stage. Comparison with previously mapped resistance loci indicates that six of the 12 resistance loci are newly documented. This study reports effective sources of resistance to contemporary races in Ethiopia and the United States and reveals that Ethiopian durum wheat landraces are abundant in novel Pst resistance loci that may be transferred into adapted cultivars to provide resistance against Pst.

Stripe rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis Westend. f. sp. tritici Erikss. (Pst) remains one of the most significant diseases of wheat worldwide. We investigated stripe rust resistance by genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) in 959 spring wheat accessions from the United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service National Small Grains Collection, representing major global production environments. The panel was characterized for field resistance in multi-environment field trials and seedling resistance under greenhouse conditions. A genome-wide set of 5,619 informative SNP markers were used to examine the population structure, linkage disequilibrium and marker-trait associations in the germplasm panel. Based on model-based analysis of population structure and hierarchical Ward clustering algorithm, the accessions were clustered into two major subgroups. These subgroups were largely separated according to geographic origin and improvement status of the accessions. A significant correlation was observed between the population sub-clusters and response to stripe rust infection. We identified 11 and 7 genomic regions with significant associations with stripe rust resistance at adult plant and seedling stages, respectively, based on a false discovery rate multiple correction method. The regions harboring all, except three, of the QTL identified from the field and greenhouse studies overlap with positions of previously reported QTL. Further work should aim at validating the identified QTL using proper germplasm and populations to enhance their utility in marker assisted breeding.

BackgroundThe narrow genetic basis of resistance in modern wheat cultivars and the strong selection response of pathogen populations have been responsible for periodic and devastating epidemics of the wheat rust diseases. Characterizing new sources of resistance and incorporating multiple genes into elite cultivars is the most widely accepted current mechanism to achieve durable varietal performance against changes in pathogen virulence. Here, we report a high-density molecular characterization and genome-wide association study (GWAS) of stripe rust and stem rust resistance in 190 Ethiopian bread wheat lines based on phenotypic data from multi-environment field trials and seedling resistance screening experiments. A total of 24,281 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers filtered from the wheat 90 K iSelect genotyping assay was used to survey Ethiopian germplasm for population structure, genetic diversity and marker-trait associations.ResultsUpon screening for field resistance to stripe rust in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and Ethiopia over multiple growing seasons, and against multiple races of stripe rust and stem rust at seedling stage, eight accessions displayed resistance to all tested races of stem rust and field resistance to stripe rust in all environments. Our GWAS results show 15 loci were significantly associated with seedling and adult plant resistance to stripe rust at false discovery rate (FDR)-adjusted probability (P) <0.10. GWAS also detected 9 additional genomic regions significantly associated (FDR-adjusted P < 0.10) with seedling resistance to stem rust in the Ethiopian wheat accessions. Many of the identified resistance loci were mapped close to previously identified rust resistance genes; however, three loci on the short arms of chromosomes 5A and 7B for stripe rust resistance and two on chromosomes 3B and 7B for stem rust resistance may be novel.ConclusionOur results demonstrate that considerable genetic variation resides within the landrace accessions that can be utilized to broaden the genetic base of rust resistance in wheat breeding germplasm. The molecular markers identified in this study should be useful in efficiently targeting the associated resistance loci in marker-assisted breeding for rust resistance in Ethiopia and other countries.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12870-017-1082-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Stripe rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici, is a major yield-limiting foliar disease of wheat (Triticum aestivum) worldwide. In this study, the genetic variability of elite spring wheat germplasm from North America was investigated to characterize the genetic basis of effective all-stage and adult plant resistance (APR) to stripe rust. A genome-wide association study was conducted using 237 elite spring wheat lines genotyped with an Illumina Infinium 90K single-nucleotide polymorphism array. All-stage resistance was evaluated at seedling stage in controlled conditions and field evaluations were conducted under natural disease pressure in eight environments across Washington State. High heritability estimates and correlations between infection type and severity were observed. Ten loci for race-specific all-stage resistance were confirmed from previous mapping studies. Three potentially new loci associated with race-specific all-stage resistance were identified on chromosomes 1D, 2A, and 5A. For APR, 11 highly significant quantitative trait loci (QTL) (false discovery rate < 0.01) were identified, of which 3 QTL on chromosomes 3A, 5D, and 7A are reported for the first time. The QTL identified in this study can be used to enrich the current gene pool and improve the diversity of resistance to stripe rust disease.