QTL mapping of Fusarium head blight resistance in three related durum wheat populations

Abstract

Key message The QTL Fhb1 was successfully introgressed and validated in three durum wheat populations. The novel germplasm and the QTL detected will support improvement of Fusarium resistance in durum wheat. AbstractDurum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) is particularly susceptible to Fusarium head blight (FHB) and breeding for resistance is hampered by limited genetic variation within this species. To date, resistant sources are mainly available in a few wild relative tetraploid wheat accessions. In this study, the effect of the well-known hexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) quantitative trait locus (QTL) Fhb1 was assessed for the first time in durum wheat. Three F7-RIL mapping populations of about 100 lines were developed from crosses between the durum wheat experimental line DBC-480, which carries an Fhb1 introgression from Sumai-3, and the European T. durum cultivars Karur, Durobonus and SZD1029K. The RILs were evaluated in field experiments for FHB resistance in three seasons using spray inoculation and genotyped with SSR as well as genotyping-by-sequencing markers. QTL associated with FHB resistance were identified on chromosome arms 2BL, 3BS, 4AL, 4BS, 5AL and 6AS at which the resistant parent DBC-480 contributed the positive alleles. The QTL on 3BS was detected in all three populations centered at the Fhb1 interval. The Rht-B1 locus governing plant height was found to have a strong effect in modulating FHB severity in all populations. The negative effect of the semi-dwarf allele Rht-B1b on FHB resistance was compensated by combining with Fhb1 and additional resistance QTL. The successful deployment of Fhb1 in T. durum was further substantiated by assessing type 2 resistance in one population. The efficient introgression of Fhb1 represents a significant step forward for enhancing FHB resistance in durum wheat.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00122-016-2785-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Breeding strategies and advances in line selection for Fusarium head blight resistance in wheat

“…A recent study (Prat et al 2016) reported the successful introgression of Fhb1 from hexaploid wheat into T. durum resulting in improved resistance. The effect of Fhb1 from Sumai-3 has been assessed in three durum wheat crosses between an Fhb1 harbouring experimental T. durum line and three European T. durum cultivars.…”

The potential of genomic‐assisted breeding to improve Fusarium head blight resistance in winter durum wheat

“…The wheat/Fusarium pathosystem is race non‐specific as shown previously (e.g., Mesterházy, Bartok, Mirocha, & Komoroczy, ; Van Eeuwijk et al., ); that is, the genotypes show no significant ranking differences according to the isolate (Voss, Bowden, Leslie, & Miedaner, ). FHB resistance in durum wheat is similarly inherited than in bread wheat showing a continuous variation (Prat et al., ; Somers, Fedak, Clarke, & Cao, ) with a high impact of genotype × environment interaction (Miedaner & Longin, ). The range from high to low susceptibility, however, is smaller than in bread wheat (Prat et al., ).…”

“…FHB resistance in durum wheat is similarly inherited than in bread wheat showing a continuous variation (Prat et al., ; Somers, Fedak, Clarke, & Cao, ) with a high impact of genotype × environment interaction (Miedaner & Longin, ). The range from high to low susceptibility, however, is smaller than in bread wheat (Prat et al., ). Thirteen quantitative trait loci (QTL) for FHB resistance on 11 chromosomes were reported (Prat, Buerstmayr, Steiner, Robert, & Buerstmayr, ).…”

Durum wheat and septoria tritici blotch: genes and prospects for breeding

“…These landraces are treasured sources that were often used in wheat improvement (Lopes et al 2015;Soriano et al 2016). Alike wild durum progenitor (chapter 3), landraces convey valuable resistance genes that were used to enhance durum wheat resistance to various fungal diseases (Prat et al 2017;Rahman et al 2017), which thus stirred our interest.…”

“…The limited scientific efforts and the so-called 'genetic erosion' underlined by several studies Soleimani et al 2002) gave rise to a higher vulnerability of durum wheat germplasm to the majority of biotic constrains, in particular to fungal diseases such as Fusarium head blight and leaf rust (Prat et al 2017). …”