GWAS for Fusarium Head Blight Related Traits in Winter Wheat (Triticum Aestivum L.) in an Artificially Warmed Treatment

Abstract

Global temperature increases will affect Fusarium head blight (FHB) levels in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). A pressing question is whether current sources of resistance will be effective in a warmer environment. We evaluated phenotypic response to disease in 238 soft winter wheat breeding lines and cultivars grown in 2015–2016 and 2016–2017 under control and warmed (+3 °C) conditions. Warming was achieved with heating cables buried 3 cm in the rhizosphere. We measured heading date, plant height, yield, FHB rating, Fusarium damaged kernels (FDK), deoxynivalenol (DON), leaf blotch rating, powdery mildew rating and leaf rust rating. There were significant (p < 0.01) differences among genotypes for all traits measured. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified 19 and 10 significant SNPs in the control and warmed treatments, respectively. FDK and DON levels were often significantly (p < 0.05) higher in warmed than in control when we contrasted alleles at important quantitative trait locus (QTL) such as Fhb1, Rht-B1 and D1 and all vernalization and photoperiod loci. Increased rhizosphere temperature resulted in a significantly (p < 0.01) earlier heading date (~3.5 days) both years of the study. Rank correlation between warmed and control treatments was moderate (r = 0.56). Though encouraging, it indicates that selection for performance under warming should be carried out in a warmed environment.