Precise mapping of QTL for Hessian fly resistance in the hard winter wheat cultivar ‘Overland’

Authors: XU, YUNFENG - Kansas State University; LA, GUIXIAO - Kansas State University; FATIMA, NOSHEE - Kansas State University; LIU, ZIHUI - Kansas State University; ZHANG, LIRONG - Kansas State University; ZHAO, LANFEI - Kansas State University; Chen, Ming-Shun; Bai, Guihua

Submitted to: Journal of Theoretical and Applied Genetics
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/17/2021
Publication Date: 9/1/2021
Citation: Xu, Y., La, G., Fatima, N., Liu, Z., Zhang, L., Zhao, L., Chen, M., Bai, G. 2021. Precise mapping of QTL for Hessian fly resistance in the hard winter wheat cultivar ‘Overland’. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Genetics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-021-03940-w.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-021-03940-w

Interpretive Summary: The Hessian fly causes stunting and lodging of wheat plants and leads to substantial yield losses. Genetic resistance is an important method to control Hessian fly. To identify resistance genes to Hessian fly in the cultivar 'Overland', we made a cross to the susceptible line ‘Overley' and tested the progeny for responses to infestation by Hessian fly. Two resistance genes from Overland were mapped to chromosomes 3B and 7A, respectively. The gene on 3B showed a larger effect than the one on 7A. Breeder-friendly KASP markers were developed for the two genes. The combination of the KASP markers KASP-3B3797431 and KASP-3B4525164 is near-diagnostic for the gene on 3B in a U.S. winter wheat panel and can be used to identify lines with the gene.

Technical Abstract: The Hessian fly (HF, Mayetiola destructor) is a destructive insect pest of wheat in the U.S. and worldwide. Deploying HF-resistant cultivars is the most effective and economical approach to control this insect pest. A population of 186 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) was developed from ‘Overland’ × ‘Overley’ and phenotyped for responses to HF attack using the Great Plains (GP) biotype. A high-density genetic linkage map was constructed using 1,576 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers generated by genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS). Two quantitative trait loci (QTLs) with a significant epistatic effect on HF resistance were mapped to chromosomes 3B (QHf.hwwg-3B) and 7A (QHf.hwwg-7A) in Overland, which are located in similar chromosome regions as found for H35 and H36 in the cultivar ‘SD06165’, respectively. QHf.hwwg-3B showed a much larger effect on HF resistance than QHf.hwwg-7A. Five and four GBS-SNPs, respectively, in the QHf.hwwg-3B and QHf.hwwg-7A QTL intervals were converted into Kompetitive Allele Specific Polymerase Chain Reaction (KASP) markers. QHf.hwwg-3B was precisely mapped to a 2.32 Mb interval (2,479,314–4,799,538 bp) using near-isogenic lines (NILs) and RILs that have recombination within the QTL interval. The U.S. winter wheat accessions carrying contrasting alleles at KASP markers KASP-3B4525164, KASP-7A47772047, and KASP-7A65090410 showed significant difference in HF resistance. The combination of the two KASP markers KASP-3B3797431 and KASP-3B4525164 is near-diagnostic for QHf.hwwg-3B in a U.S. winter wheat panel and can be potentially used for screening the QTL in breeding programs.