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Title: INOCULATION METHODS TO ASSAY WHEAT SEEDLINGS FOR RESISTANCE TO FUSARIUM CROWN ROT IN A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT

Author
item POOLE, G. - South Australian Research And Development Institute
item ERGINBAS, G. - International Maize & Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)
item SMILEY, R - Oregon State University
item Garland-Campbell, Kimberly
item NICOL, J - International Maize & Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)
item Paulitz, Timothy

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/22/2013
Publication Date: 10/22/2012
Citation: Poole, G.J., Erginbas, G., Smiley, R.W., Garland Campbell, K.A., Nicol, J., Paulitz, T.C. 2012. INOCULATION METHODS TO ASSAY WHEAT SEEDLINGS FOR RESISTANCE TO FUSARIUM CROWN ROT IN A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT. Meeting Proceedings. 39.

Interpretive Summary: Greenhouse methods were developed to screen wheat plants for resistance to Fusarium crown rot caused by F. pseudograminearum. A system with millet seed inoculum using the Nicol rating from a 0-10 was the most consistent.

Technical Abstract: Adequate Fusarium screening systems must be established to appropriately phenotype mapping populations for accurate QTL identification. The objective of this research was to find an inoculation method with the greatest consistency and least variation for identifying QTL. Two Fusarium pseudograminearum isolates from the PNW were used in a study to evaluate the effect of inoculation method on the performance of four spring wheat cultivars varying in susceptibility to Fusarium crown rot. Three different rating systems and four inoculation methods were compared and variance was estimated for each method of inoculation. The inoculation method that resulted in the most consistent difference between resistant (‘2-49’) and susceptible (‘Seri’) cultivars and least amount of variation were the colonized millet and conidial agar straw slurry. Of these, the colonized millet method gave the most reliable phenotype ratings and was used to screen two mapping populations from Sunco/Macon and Sunco/Otis crosses. The Nicol rating of 0 to 10 yielded the most conclusive results with the least amount of variation and can be most easily applied to a high-throughput QTL mapping study. The millet seed inoculation utilizing the Nicol rating on a scale from 0 to 10 was used to screen mapping populations for identification of crown rot resistance QTL.