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ARS Home » Plains Area » Manhattan, Kansas » Center for Grain and Animal Health Research » Hard Winter Wheat Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #348416
Title: Wheat resistance to Fusarium Head Blight

Author
item Bai, Guihua
item SU, ZHENQI - Kansas State University
item JIN, CAI - Kansas State University

Submitted to: Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/6/2018
Publication Date: 6/18/2018
Citation: Bai, G., Su, Z., Jin, C. 2018. Wheat resistance to Fusarium Head Blight. Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology. https://doi.org/10.1080/07060661.2018.1476411.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07060661.2018.1476411

Interpretive Summary: Fusarium head blight (FHB) is one of the most devastating wheat disease worldwide. Growing resistant cultivars is the most sustainable strategy to combat the disease. This paper reviewed the progress in identification of genes for FHB resistance from wheat and its relatives and in transferring these genes into wheat to improve wheat FHB resistance. Fhb1 is a gene that consistently shows the highest level of resistance in different genetic backgrounds, and therefore has been extensively studied. Fhb1 has been cloned and new diagnostic markers are available for deployment in breeding programs. Fhb1 can be combined with native minor resistance genes create highly resistant cultivars.

Technical Abstract: Fusarium head blight (FHB), caused primarily by Fusarium graminearum, has rapidly become the most devastating wheat disease worldwide. Use of host resistance is the most effective and sustainable strategy to combat the disease. To date, more than 50 unique quantitative trait loci (QTLs) have been identified in diverse wheat populations, and Fhb1 consistently shows the highest level of resistance in different genetic backgrounds. In spite of worldwide efforts to deploy Fhb1 through wheat breeding, only a few cultivars currently used in production carry Fhb1. Recently Fhb1 has been cloned and diagnostic markers have been developed, which will facilitate successful deployment of Fhb1 in breeding. Using marker-assisted backcross, Fhb1 has been successfully transferred into locally adapted cultivars that carry minor QTLs, and selected Fhb1 lines in different backgrounds showed high levels of resistance. This approach may provide a quick solution to improvement of FHB resistance in commercial cultivars. In addition, gene editing that knocks down the susceptible allele of Fhb1 in commercial cultivars may also improve wheat FHB resistance. However, most other QTLs identified to date show much smaller effects than Fhb1. These QTLs distribute in many locally adapted cultivars, and thus are important QTLs for FHB resistance improvement. Currently, diagnostic markers are still not available for most of these minor QTLs, therefore genomic selection may improve selection accuracy for these QTLs to create highly resistant cultivars.