Abstract
Fusarium seedling blight (FSB) is an important disease of wheat occurring as part of the Fusarium disease complex consisting also of Fusarium head blight (FHB). 240 Chinese elite cultivars and lines were evaluated in greenhouse experiments for FSB resistance and genotyped using the wheat 90 K single nucleotide polymorphism arrays. Among them, 23 accessions had an average lesion length of less than 0.6 cm, exhibiting potential for breeding for FSB resistance in wheat. Jingfumai 1 and Yangmai 11 had a relatively high resistance to both FSB and FHB simultaneously. Six relatively stable quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were detected on chromosome arms 1DL, 3AS, 3BL, 6BL, 7AL, and Un using the mixed linear model approach, interpreting 4.83–7.53% of phenotypic variation. There was a negative correlation between the average FSB lesion length and the BLUE FHB index with a low coefficient, and resistance to both diseases appeared to be conferred by different QTLs across the same population. Four KASP markers were detected on 1DL, 3AS, 3BL, and 6BL in QTLs to facilitate marker-assisted selection. Combined with transcriptome data analysis, eight defense-related genes were considered as candidates for mapping QTLs. The resistant elite germplasm, mapped QTLs, and KASP markers developed in this study are useful resources for enhancing Fusarium seedling blight in wheat breeding.
Highlights
Fusarium seedling blight (FSB) and Fusarium head blight (FHB), primarily caused by Fusarium pathogens, refer to are economically devastating diseases in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) as well as other small grain cereals across the world (Bai and Shaner, 2004; Li X. et al, 2010; Ren et al, 2016)
Twelve Polish spring wheat cultivars and 18 spring wheat accessions from CIMMYT were examined for resistance to FSB and FHB by applying a highly aggressive fungal isolate, and no correlation was found between the two resistance types (Wisniewska and Busko, 2005)
The findings provide an insight into the genetics of FSB response in Chinese cultivars, and the developed markers associated with the mapped QTLs may be used for breeding FSB resistance wheat
Summary
Fusarium seedling blight (FSB) and Fusarium head blight (FHB), primarily caused by Fusarium pathogens, refer to are economically devastating diseases in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) as well as other small grain cereals across the world (Bai and Shaner, 2004; Li X. et al, 2010; Ren et al, 2016). Due to the global climate change and tillage management, FSB and FHB usually reach epidemic levels, causing huge yield losses across millions of hectares in global wheat production regions (Cheng et al, 2015; Liu et al, 2016). Both FSB and FHB produce various mycotoxins during infection, with high toxicity, posing a threat to people as well as livestock (Pestka and Smolinski, 2005; Liu et al, 2012). Using the clip-dipping inoculation method, Shin et al (2014) found the remarkable correlation between the lesion length and Type II FHB resistance and suggested that the method for the evaluation of FSB resistance may provide a simple and feasible way for the early screening of FHB resistance in wheat
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