Location: Cereal Crops Improvement Research
Project Number: 3060-21000-046-003-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Aug 1, 2019
End Date: Jul 31, 2024
Objective:
The objectives of this cooperative research project are to: 1) identify and introgress quantitative trait loci (QTL) for resistance to Fusarium head blight (FHB) from tetraploid (Triticum turgidum) and hexaploid wheat (T. aestivum) and Tausch's goatgrass (Aegilops tauschii) into hard red spring wheat (HRSW); 2) develop elite durum wheat germplasm with FHB resistance derived tetraploid wheat and hexaploid wheat; 3) deploy several Ug99-resistant genes derived from Aegilops speltoides, Ae. tauschii, Ae. markgrafii, Thinopyrum ponticum, and T. dicoccum into new durum and HRSW varieties, and 4) identify and transfer genes for resistance to Hessian fly from durum and Ae. tauschii into bread wheat.
Approach:
The durum and bread wheat germplasm and populations from ongoing ARS programs will be used for developing elite durum and bread wheat germplasm for U.S. breeding programs and new mapping populations for gene discovery. A population of 190 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) previously developed from the cross between HRSW line ND495 and synthetic hexaploid wheat (SHW) line Largo (durum Langdon/Ae. tauschii PI 268210) and a new RIL population, which is being developed from crossing SHW line SW91 (T. dicoccum CItr 14133/Ae. tauschii CIae 26) with HRSW variety ‘Wheaton’ will be used to identify new FHB resistance QTL using linkage and QTL analysis. To develop adapted HRSW germplasm, the FHB-resistant QTL in hexaploid wheat line PI 277012 and four SHW lines SW91, SW93 (CItr 14133/PI 268210), SW183 (T. dicoccum PI 191091/CIae 26), and SW187 (T. dicoccum PI 272527/CIae 26) will be transferred into HRSW varieties ‘Barlow’, ‘Vitpro’, ‘Linkert’, ‘Bolles’, ‘Faller’, ‘Howard’, ‘Glenn’, and ‘Grandin’ using backcross and marker-assisted selection (MAS).
To develop elite durum germplasm with FHB resistance, a number of durum lines with improved FHB resistance derived from T. dicoccum, T. carthlicum, and hexaploid wheat (‘Sumai 3’ and PI 277012) were previously developed. Three of the lines were crossed to six ND durum lines. Approximately 400 F2 plants that are homozygous for Fhb1 have been selected. The advanced lines (F5 and beyond) derived from the F2 plants will be evaluated for FHB resistance in multiple environments and the top lines (30 - 40 lines) will be evaluated for major agronomic traits, yield, and quality in field trials. To further improve the FHB resistance, the FHB resistance QTL from different sources will be pyramided into new durum variety ‘ND Riveland’ using backcross and doubled haploid (DH) methods.
To improve durum and bread wheat germplasm for stem rust resistance, several Ug99-resistant genes derived from Ae. speltoides (Sr32, Sr39, and Sr47), Ae. tauschii (Sr33, Sr45, and Sr46), Ae. markgrafii (SrAem1), Th. ponticum (Sr43), and T. dicoccum (Sr883) will be deployed into new durum (ND Riveland and ‘ND Grano’) and HRSW (Barlow, Linkert, Glenn, and Grandin) varieties using backcross and MAS. A population of 130 DH lines (Grandin × PI 277012) will be used to identify the Sr genes in Grandin.
To identify to Hessian fly resistance (H) genes, a panel of 265 Ae. tauschii accessions, which were recently sequenced by the Open Wild Wheat Consortium, will be evaluated using the Great Plains biotype. The phenotypic and sequence data will be used to identify the H genes using association analysis. The resistant accessions will also be genotyped using DNA markers tightly linked to or diagnostic for the known H genes in Ae. tauschii. A tetraploid population of 200 RILs (durum ‘Ben’ × T. dicoccum PI 41025) will be used to identify the H genes from Ben. To transfer H genes into bread wheat, a SHW line SW8, which carries two tightly-linked genes (H26A and H26B), will be used as donor in 5 -6 backcrosses to Faller and winter wheat ‘Newton’. The plants that are homozygous for the two H genes will be selected from the BC5F3 or BC6F3 progenies.
