Soil-borne Wheat Mosaic Virus Research Articles

Investigation of Metabolic Responses in Virus-infected Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Grown in Azerbaijan

Barley yellow dwarf viruses (BYDV), Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV), Wheat dwarf virus (WDV), and Soil-borne wheat mosaic virus (SBWMV) constitute the most dangerous and widespread viruses affecting cereals across all wheat-growing regions worldwide. While numerous foreign scientific reports focus on the impact of climate change on plants, pathogens, and their vectors, only a limited number of studies address cereal viruses. The objective of this study was to investigate the variability of economically significant wheat viruses in several regions of Azerbaijan and to identify certain metabolic enzymes such as malate dehydrogenase (MDH), aspartate aminotransferase (AsAT), and alanine aminotransferase (ALAT) in virus-infected wheat samples. During 2022-2023, it was observed that BYDV and WSMV alternated in prevalence from year to year, with no instances of co-infection recorded. SBWMV was not detected in the tested samples. WSMV incidence rates were 12.4% and 19% in 2022 and 2023, respectively, whereas BYDV was detected at rates of 14.6% and 8.5%, respectively. Our results support a tight relationship between amino acid metabolism and stress responses. The results of the research allow the conclusion that mitochondrial NAD-MDH implements oxidation of NADH reduced in the reaction of glycine decarboxylation during photorespiration and intensifies biosynthesis of 2-oxoglutarate playing the role of the carbon skeleton in the synthesis of amino acids.

Molecular characterization of Japanese isolates of soil-borne wheat mosaic virus in the genus Furovirus

Molecular characterization of Japanese isolates of soil-borne wheat mosaic virus in the genus Furovirus

Nutrients and soil structure influence furovirus infection of wheat.

Soil-borne wheat mosaic virus (SBWMV) and Soil-borne cereal mosaic virus (SBCMV), genus Furovirus, family Virgaviridae, cause significant crop losses in cereals. The viruses are transmitted by the soil-borne plasmodiophorid Polymyxa graminis. Inside P. graminis resting spores, the viruses persist in the soil for long time, which makes the disease difficult to combat. To open up novel possibilities for virus control, we explored the influence of physical and chemical soil properties on infection of wheat with SBWMV and SBCMV. Moreover, we investigated, whether infection rates are influenced by the nutritional state of the plants. Infection rates of susceptible wheat lines were correlated to soil structure parameters and nutrient contents in soil and plants. Our results show that SBWMV and SBCMV infection rates decrease the more water-impermeable the soil is and that virus transmission depends on pH. Moreover, we found that contents of several nutrients in the soil (e.g. phosphorous, magnesium, zinc) and in planta (e.g. nitrogen, carbon, boron, sulfur, calcium) affect SBWMV and SBCMV infection rates. The knowledge generated may help paving the way towards development of a microenvironment-adapted agriculture.

First report of barley virus G infecting wheat (Triticum aestivum) in Japan.

Barley virus G (BVG) is a single stranded, positive sense RNA virus and tentative species of the genus Polerovirus in the family Solemoviridae. BVG was first identified in barley (Hordeum vulgare) in Korea with symptoms that were similar to those of barley yellow dwarf disease (Zhao et al. 2016). It has also been identified from proso millet (Park et al. 2017), barley (Erickson and Falk, 2021; Nancarrow et al. 2019; Svanella-Dumas et al. 2022), maize (Gavrili et al. 2021), wheat (Nancarrow et al. 2019), and oats (Nancarrow et al. 2019) in various countries. In the spring of 2019, wheat (Triticum aestivum) plants that exhibited symptoms of yellow leaves, necrosis, and stunting were observed in a few fields of the Chugoku region (western main island) in Japan. The four soil-borne viruses, wheat yellow mosaic virus (WYMV), Chinese yellow mosaic virus (CWMV), Japanese soil-borne wheat mosaic virus (JSBWMV), and soil-borne wheat mosaic virus (SBWMV), that often occur in winter wheat in Japan, were not detected by DAS-ELISA for WYMV, CWMV, and JSBWMV (Netsu et al. 2011) and ELISA Reagent Set for SBWMV (Agdia, IN, USA). To identify the pathogen, total RNA was isolated from the leaves and petioles using the PureLink RNA Mini kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific, MA, USA), and RT-PCR was performed using the PrimeScript One Step RT-PCR Kit Ver.2 (Dye plus) (Takara Bio Inc, Shiga, Japan). Based on the symptoms, luteoviruses and poleroviruses, which are transmitted by aphids, were suspected and RT-PCR was performed using known primers (Malmstrom and Shu, 2004; Mustafayev et al. 2013). This resulted in an amplicon of approximately 300 bp being obtained from RT-PCR using the Luteo2F/YanR-new primers (Mustafayev et al. 2013). The amplicon was directly sequenced by Sanger sequencing and a nucleotide BLAST search of the database revealed that the sequence was highly similar (99% identity, query coverage 95%) to the genome of BVG. In samples of a single field, four out of six plants that were showing necrosis and stunting were positive by RT-PCR using the primers BVG-CP-F (5´- GCGGGAAACATTTGTATTTTCG-3´)/BVG-CP-R (5´- GATTTTGGGTTAGAACATCCATCG-3´). In addition, five out of six plants with some yellowing of the leaves in the same field were also positive. Other luteoviruses and poleroviruses were not detected by RT-PCR using known primers. The full-length genome sequence of the Chugoku isolate was amplified using the primers BVG-F (5´-ACAAAAGGGACCCAGAGGG-3´)/BVG-R (5´-TACCAAGGATACTAGAGAGAGA-3´), which were designed from the 5´ and 3´ end sequences of the known BVG sequence. The resultant amplicon was directly sequenced by Sanger sequencing and the sequence was deposited into the DNA Data Bank of Japan (Chugoku isolate, LC649801). The sequence comprised of 5,620 bp and the genomic structures were consistent with that of BVG. The sequence showed more than 97% nucleotide identity with the BVG Gimji (KT962089), Uiseong (LC259081), NL1 (MF960779), and California (LC259081) isolates by pairwise comparisons. This is the first report of BVG in wheat in Japan to the best of our knowledge. The correlation between BVG and the observed symptoms and the impact of BVG on wheat production in Japan requires further investigation. Reference Erickson, A. C. and Falk, B. 2021. Plant Dis. doi:10.1094/PDIS-03-21-0478-PDN Gavrili, V. et al. 2021. J. Plant Pathol. 103:1331. doi:10.1007/s42161-021-00903-4 Malmstrom, C. M. and Shu, R. 2004. J. Virol. Methods. 120:69. doi:10.1016/j.jviromet.2004.04.005 Mustafayev, E. S. et al. 2013. Plant Dis. 97:849. doi:10.1094/PDIS-07-12-0656-PDN Nancarrow, N. et al. 2019. Plant Dis. 103:1799. doi: 10.1094/PDIS-01-19-0166-PDN Netsu, O. et al. 2011. Plant Dis. 58:13. doi.org/10.11337/ktpps.2011.13 Park, C.Y. et al. 2017. Plant Dis. 101:393. doi: 10.1094/PDIS-07-16-0952-PDN Svanella-Dumas, L. et al. 2022. Plant Dis. doi: 10.1094/PDIS-06-22-1294-PDN Zhao, F. et al. 2016. Arch. Virol. 161: 2047. doi:10.1007/s00705-016-2881-0.

Development of a Multiplex RT-PCR Assay for Simultaneous Detection of Ten Major Viral Pathogens of Wheat

Triticum mosaic virus (TriMV) and High plains virus (HPV), identified recently, have been considered among the major viruses that affect wheat. Carried by the same vector, wheat curl mite, both of these viruses cause yellowing and stunting of plants which are very similar to many other viruses attacking wheat. This makes it difficult to detect these viruses in different wheat lines, posing a major problem in the yield. This paper highlights the addition of these two viruses to a multiplex RT-PCR based method which already detected the presence of barley and cereal yellow dwarf viruses (B/CYDVs), soil-borne wheat mosaic virus (SBWMV), wheat spindle streak mosaic virus (WSSMV), and wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV). The method uses specific sets of primers that detect the target viruses TriMV and HPV at 560 bp and 490 bp, respectively, in the presence of other distinct viruses such as B/CYDVs -PAV, -MAV, -SGV, -RPV, -RMV, WSSMV, SBWMV, and WSMV at 295, 175, 237, 400, 365, 154, 219, and 193 bp, respectively. The forward primer for each specific virus was fluorescently tagged to detect it in a higher throughput manner in capillary electrophoresis. All ten viruses may be viewed as peaks in an electropherogram from the capillary electrophoresis corresponding to their product sizes in base pairs. This advancement in the protocol allows detection of all ten wheat viruses in a single test, thus improving the diagnostic capability with only a slight increase in cost.

Genetic resistance in barley against Japanese soil-borne wheat mosaic virus functions in the roots.

Infection by the Japanese soil-borne wheat mosaic virus (JSBWMV) can lead to substantial losses in the grain yield of barley and wheat crops. While genetically based resistance to this virus has been documented, its mechanistic basis remains obscure. In this study, the deployment of a quantitative PCR assay showed that the resistance acts directly against the virus rather than by inhibiting the colonization of the roots by the virus' fungal vector Polymyxa graminis. In the susceptible barley cultivar (cv.) Tochinoibuki, the JSBWMV titre was maintained at a high level in the roots during the period December-April, and the virus was translocated from the root to the leaf from January onwards. In contrast, in the roots of both cv. Sukai Golden and cv. Haruna Nijo, the titre was retained at a low level, and translocation of the virus to the shoot was strongly suppressed throughout the host's entire life cycle. The roots of wild barley (Hordeum vulgare ssp. spontaneum) accession H602 responded in the early stages of infection similarly to those of the resistant cultivated forms, but the host was unable to suppress the translocation of the virus to the shoot from March onwards. The virus titre in the root was presumed to have been restricted by the action of the gene product of Jmv1 (on chromosome 2H), while the stochastic nature of the infection was suppressed by the action of that of Jmv2 (on chromosome 3H), a gene harbored by cv. Sukai Golden but not by either cv. Haruna Nijo or accession H602.

Development of the differential detection reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification method for Barley yellow mosaic virus or Japanese soil-borne wheat mosaic virus from barley.

A differential detection reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (DD-RT-LAMP) method was developed to detect either Barley yellow mosaic virus (BaYMV) or Japanese soil-borne wheat mosaic virus (JSBWMV) simultaneously. Both primer sets, which recognized either BaYMV or JSBWMV genomic RNA, amplified DNA more efficiently at 65°C using an isothermal DNA amplification and fluorescence detection device. Furthermore, these primer sets showed unique annealing curves. The peak annealing temperatures of BaYMV and JSBWMV amplification products using specific primer sets were 86.9°C-87.7°C and 84.5°C-85.0°C, respectively, and were clearly distinguishable during an annealing step following the isothermal amplification, monitored using a fluorescence detection device. In the field samples of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) tested, BaYMV or JSBWMV were detected by DD-RT-LAMP, and the detection results of DD-RT-LAMP were correspondent with the results of reverse transcription-PCR.

Detection of soil-borne wheat mosaic virus using hyperspectral imaging: from lab to field scans and from hyperspectral to multispectral data

Hyperspectral imaging allows for rapid, non-destructive and objective assessments of crop health. Narrowband-hyperspectral data was used to select wavelength regions that can be exploited to identify wheat infected with soil-borne mosaic virus. First, leaf samples were scanned in the lab to investigate spectral differences between healthy and diseased leaves, including non-symptomatic and symptomatic areas within a diseased leaf. The potential of 84 commonly used vegetation indices to find infection was explored. A machine-learning approach was used to create a classification model to automatically separate pixels into symptomatic, non-symptomatic and healthy classes. The success rate of the model was 69.7% using the full spectrum. It was very encouraging that by using a subset of only four broad bands, sampled to simulate a data set from a much simpler and less costly multispectral camera, accuracy increased to 71.3%. Next, the classification models were validated on field data. Infection in the field was successfully identified using classifiers trained on the entire spectrum of the hyperspectral data acquired in a lab setting, with the best accuracy being 64.9%. Using a subset of wavelengths, simulating multispectral data, the accuracy dropped by only 3 percentage points to 61.9%. This research shows the potential of using lab scans to train classifiers to be successfully applied in the field, even when simultaneously reducing the hyperspectral data to multispectral data.

A new soft red winter wheat cultivar ‘GA 08535‐15LE29’ adapted to Georgia and the U.S. southeast region

AbstractSoft red winter wheat (SRWW) (Triticum aestivum L.) production in the southeastern United States is affected by biotic and abiotic stresses that can result in yield losses and reduced acreage. Developing new cultivars with high yield, good resistance to predominant pests, and acceptable quality to maximize value in regional markets is needed. The University of Georgia (UGA) SRWW breeding program, in collaboration with institutions in the region including the Southern UNiversities GRAINS (SUNGRAINS) programs, is responding to these challenges by developing and releasing superior cultivars adapted to the region. ‘GA 08535‐15LE29’ (Reg. no. CV‐1191, PI 693269) SRWW cultivar was developed and released by the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and licensed to Uni South Genetics seed company in 2018 as USG 3640. GA 08535‐15LE29 is well adapted to Georgia and the U.S. southeast region with high yield and good resistance to leaf (Puccinia triticina Erikss.) and stripe (P. striiformis Westend.) rusts, Fusarium head blight (caused by Fusarium graminearum Schwabe), powdery mildew (Erisyphe graminis), and Soil‐borne wheat mosaic virus (SBWMV) diseases. GA 08535‐15LE29 showed moderate field resistance to Hessian fly [Mayetiola destructor (Say)]. GA 08535‐15LE29 has Sbm1 and Yr17/Lr37/Sr38 for resistance to SBWMV and rust diseases and has good grain volume weight and acceptable milling and baking qualities.

Soil-borne wheat mosaic virus

This datasheet on Soil-borne wheat mosaic virus covers Identity, Distribution, Hosts/Species Affected, Diagnosis, Biology & Ecology, Further Information.

Soil-borne wheat mosaic virus

Soil-borne wheat mosaic virus

Two dominant genes in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) complementarily encode perfect resistance to Japanese soil-borne wheat mosaic virus.

Japanese soil-borne wheat mosaic virus (Furovirus) is a damaging pathogen of wheat and barley. This virus can survive in the soil for several decades, so the deployment of resistant cultivars represents the only practical control measure. Here, a genetic analysis has identified two regions of the barley genome-one on chromosome 2H and the other on chromosome 3H-as harboring gene(s) encoding resistance to this virus. The joint presence of both loci, termed Jmv1 and Jmv2, made the plants essentially immune, with resistance being dominant over susceptibility at each locus. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the virus is not closely related to the type Furovirus species Soil-borne wheat mosaic virus. There was a difference between the RNA1- and RNA2-based phylogenies of the virus species in Furovirus implying the independent segregation of the virus subgenomes.

Enrichment of microbial taxa after the onset of wheat yellow mosaic disease

Soil-borne Chinese wheat mosaic virus causes yellow mosaic disease in winter wheat and is transmitted by its vector—Polymyxa graminis—in rhizosphere soil. However, the mechanism underlying the protective effect of belowground plant-associated microbes against infection by soil-borne viruses is unknown. Here, we used comprehensive bacterial 16S rRNA gene and fungal internal transcribed spacer region sequencing to explore changes of belowground plant-associated microbes and their network associations in response to wheat yellow mosaic disease. Following infection, the alpha diversity of root-associated microbiota significantly increases, whereas the microbial community structure becomes more homogeneous from the bulk soil to the root endosphere. Nevertheless, significant differences occur in taxonomic composition with different degrees of plant disease. For example, certain phyla, including Firmicutes, Gemmatimonadetes, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, Nitrospirae, Armatimonadetes, and Acidobacteria, as well as specific genera, namely, Streptomyces, Stenotrophomonas, Bradyrhizobium, Sphingomonas and Bacillus, are greatly enriched following disease outbreak and may contribute to pathogen suppression. Moreover, following disease occurrence, the scale, connectivity, and complexity of the rhizosphere and root endosphere co-occurrence network increased compared with those of healthy plants. Moreover, the rhizosphere and root endosphere co-occurrence network of diseased plants contains more plant beneficial taxa and nitrogen cycle-related bacterial taxa as the keystone taxa, including the genera Bosea (Bradyrhizobiaceae), Stenotrophomonas, Thermomonas (Xanthomonadaceae), Novosphingobium (Sphingomonadaceae), and Methylibium (Comamonadaceae), implying that these potential beneficial taxa may regulate microbial networks and prevent the collapse of belowground microbial networks after disease emerging. It also implies that there is potential niche competition between beneficial bacteria and pathogen. In conclusion, our findings provide important insights into the relationship between the occurrence of soil-borne virus diseases and changes in the belowground microbial communities. This work may facilitate future research on the use of specific rhizosphere microbial communities to inhibit soil-borne virus infection.

‘GA JT141‐14E45’: A new soft red winter wheat cultivar adapted to Georgia and the U.S. Southeast region

AbstractIn Georgia and the southeast region of the United States, acreage of soft red winter wheat (SRWW) (Triticum aestivum L.) has decreased in recent years. There is an urgent need to release new cultivars with high yield potential, resistance to yield‐limiting diseases and insects, and good baking quality to maximize value in regional markets. To address this, the SRWW breeding program at the University of Georgia (UGA), in collaboration with the SUNGRAINS breeding programs, developed ‘GA JT141‐14E45’ (Reg. no. CV‐1183, PI 689519), a SRWW cultivar released by the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and licensed to AGSouth (AGS) Genetics as AGS 3030. GA JT141‐14E45 is widely adapted to the U.S. Southeast, having high yield, good resistance to diseases such as leaf rust, stripe rust, powdery mildew, and Soil‐borne wheat mosaic virus (SBWMV) and to current biotypes of Hessian fly (Mayetiola destructor Say). It has good resistance to Fusarium head blight (FHB) or scab. GA JT141‐14E45 has good grain volume weight and acceptable milling and baking quality. GA JT141‐14E45 was derived from the cross of ‘AGS 2026’/‘Jamestown’. Jamestown was used in the cross mainly for its resistance to FHB (FHB QTL 1A‐Neuse and 1B‐Jamestown). AGS 2026 is a UGA cultivar released in 2007 with very good disease resistance to rusts (Yr17/Lr37/Sr38), Hessian fly resistance (H13), and excellent yield.

Transfer of resistance against soil-borne wheat mosaic virus from Triticum monococcum to hexaploid wheat (T. aestivum)

Resistance to soil-borne viruses as Soil-borne Wheat Mosaic Virus (SBWMV) has gained evident importance in wheat research and breeding. Very few varieties of bread and durum wheat are resistant to these viruses. Search for new sources of SBWMV is conducted worldwide and loci causing resistance have been described on the B and D genomes of tetraploid and hexaploid wheat. In the present study, a gene locus was identified on the A genome of Triticum monococcum and was successfully transferred to hexaploid wheat. In hexaploid wheat, it is expressed in a stable dominant manner. As this is the first SBWMV resistance gene located on the A genome, this locus is proposed as Sbm3.

Registration of ‘KS Silverado’ hard white winter wheat

Abstract‘KS Silverado’ (Reg. no. CV‐1175, PI 693936) hard white winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was developed at the Agricultural Research Center–Hays, Kansas State University, and released by the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station in 2019. KS Silverado was selected from a three‐way cross KS05HW122‐5‐2//KS05HW15‐2‐2/KS06HW46‐3 made in 2008 at Hays, KS. The objective of this cross was to develop a hard white winter wheat cultivar that is adapted to Kansas. KS Silverado was selected as an F6–derived line using a modified bulk method and tested in yield trials across Kansas for five years. KS Silverado is medium‐early and medium‐short and has good straw strength, above average grain volume weight, and very competitive grain yield in western and central Kansas. KS Silverado is tolerant to preharvest sprouting and has a good resistance package to diseases and insects, including Wheat streak mosaic virus, leaf rust, Soilborne wheat mosaic virus, and Hessian fly. It also has good milling and bread‐making qualities.

NGS-based multiplex assay of trait-linked molecular markers revealed the genetic diversity of Iranian bread wheat landraces and cultivars

NGS-based multiplex assay has accomplished a valuable status as a means of high throughput research, rapid screening functional markers in wheat breeding programs. Accordingly, we applied a total of 42 locus-specific markers from Indel and SNP-mediated categorisations coupled with the agronomic important genes or quantitative trait loci (QTL) in bread wheat. The amplicons were analysed by an Ion Torrent Proton Sequencer. Then, an allele detection custom pipeline was applied to process the genotype of a total of 99 Iranian cultivars and 270 landraces. On the whole, 29 markers were positively incorporated and achieved 100% SNP call rates. Assessment of sequence-tagged site (STS) and competitive allele-specific PCR (KASP) markers concerning the same loci confirmed the genotype calls of all markers altogether. It was revealed that the Iranian cultivars and landraces supply a rich genetic resource capable of resisting Hessian fly, leaf rust, fusarium head blight, adult plant leaf diseases, stem rust, wheat soilborne mosaic virus, wheat streak mosaic, pre-harvest sprouting, high grain protein, and gluten strength traits. This finding can be developed to improve and enrich bread wheat. Further, it is advocated that NGS-based multiplex assay can be a promising approach for high throughput in examining trait-linked markers in wheat germplasm collections.

Identification of candidate chromosome region of Sbwm1 for Soil-borne wheat mosaic virus resistance in wheat

Soil-borne wheat mosaic virus (SBWMV) causes a serious viral disease that can significantly reduce grain yield in winter wheat worldwide. Using resistant cultivars is the only feasible strategy to reduce the losses caused by SBWMV. To fine map the resistance gene Sbwm1, 205 wheat accessions was genotyped using wheat Infinium iSelect Beadchips with 90 K SNPs. Association analysis identified 35 SNPs in 12 wheat genes and one intergenic SNP in the Sbwm1 region that showed a significant association with SBWMV resistance. Those SNPs were converted into Kompetitive Allele-Specific Polymerase assays (KASP) and analyzed in two F6-derived recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations derived from the crosses between two resistant cultivars ‘Wesley’ and ‘Deliver’ and a susceptible line ‘OK03825-5403-6’. Linkage analysis mapped this gene on chromosome 5D at intervals of 5.1 cM and 3.4 cM in the two populations, respectively. The two flanking markers in both populations delimited the gene to a 620 kb region where 19 genes were annotated. Comparative analysis identified a syntenic region of 660 kb in Ae. tauschii with 18 annotated genes and a syntenic region in chromosome 1 of B. distachyon. The candidate region includes several disease resistance related genes and we identified a PTI1-like tyrosine-protein kinase 1 gene as a putative candidate gene for Sbwm1. The two flanking SNPs for Sbwm1 can effectively separate the resistant and susceptible lines in a new diversity panel of 159 wheat germplasm. The results from this study lay a solid foundation for the cloning, functional characterization and marker-assisted selection of Sbwm1.

Wheat soil-borne mosaic: Yield loss and distribution in the US Pacific Northwest

Soil-borne wheat mosaic virus (SBWMV), the causal agent of Wheat soil-borne mosaic (WSBM) was discovered for the first time in the dryland wheat production zone of the US Pacific Northwest (PNW) in 2008. Current WSBM distribution in the Walla Walla Valley that spans the Oregon/Washington border was documented during 2017 and 2018. Yield loss estimates of rainfed winter wheat were also determined for this growing region. WSBM is more widely distributed in the Walla Walla Valley than was previously estimated. Significant reductions of grain yield (40%), biomass (37%), and heads per area (34%) were documented in association with SBWMV infection in commercial winter wheat fields each year. Test weight was reduced by 2.3% (P = 0.08). No significant difference in the number of spikelets per head was observed in association with WSBM. This work is part of an ongoing effort to provide management solutions to WSBM.

Genome-wide association mapping revealed syntenic loci QFhb-4AL and QFhb-5DL for Fusarium head blight resistance in common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

BackgroundFusarium head blight (FHB), primarily caused by Fusarium graminearum, is a major threat to wheat production and food security worldwide. Breeding stably and durably resistant cultivars is the most effective approach for managing and controlling the disease. The success of FHB resistance breeding relies on identification of an effective resistant germplasm. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using the high-density wheat 90 K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) assays to better understand the genetic basis of FHB resistance in natural population and identify associated molecular markers.ResultsThe resistance to FHB fungal spread along the rachis (Type II resistance) was evaluated on 171 wheat cultivars in the 2016–2017 (abbr. as 2017) and 2017–2018 (abbr. as 2018) growing seasons. Using Illumina Infinum iSelect 90 K SNP genotyping data, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified 26 loci (88 marker-trait associations), which explained 6.65–14.18% of the phenotypic variances. The associated loci distributed across all chromosomes except 2D, 6A, 6D and 7D, with those on chromosomes 1B, 4A, 5D and 7A being detected in both years. New loci for Type II resistance were found on syntenic genomic regions of chromsome 4AL (QFhb-4AL, 621.85–622.24 Mb) and chromosome 5DL (QFhb-5DL, 546.09–547.27 Mb) which showed high collinearity in gene content and order. SNP markers wsnp_JD_c4438_5568170 and wsnp_CAP11_c209_198467 of 5D, reported previously linked to a soil-borne wheat mosaic virus (SBWMV) resistance gene, were also associated with FHB resistance in this study.ConclusionThe syntenic FHB resistant loci and associated SNP markers identified in this study are valuable for FHB resistance breeding via marker-assisted selection.