Phenotypic and biochemical characterization of new advanced durum wheat breeding lines from Algeria that show resistance to fusarium head blight and to mycotoxin accumulation

Abstract

Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum) is a crop highly susceptible to Fusarium head blight (FHB), which results in yield losses and downgrades the quality of grains mostly due to mycotoxin contamination. Although breeding for resistance to FHB is one of the most promising strategy for minimizing crop damage, the attempts to obtain durum wheat resistant lines have been limited so far. Two potentially interesting lines were recently delivered by a breeding program based on crosses involving cultivars from Europe and Syria. Using a field experiment in Algeria with four different Fusarium culmorum strains and a spray inoculation method, we demonstrated that the two breeding lines were significantly less affected than a set of commercial cultivars. The two breeding lines were shown to exhibit a higher resistance to both initial fungal infection and disease spread , and to mycotoxin contamination. In addition, a detailed analysis of 2 phenolic acid composition of grains indicates significant differences in p-coumaric acid between the FHB-resistant breeding lines and the sensitive genotypes. Our results corroborate the importance of cell wall composition in preventing the diffusion of F. culmorum and therefore contributing to the resistance of cereals to FHB.