Junli Zhang

Genome-Wide Association Mapping of Fusarium Head Blight Resistance in Spring Wheat Lines Developed in the Pacific Northwest and CIMMYT

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a destructive disease of wheat in humid and semihumid areas of the world. It has emerged in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) in recent years because of changing climate and crop rotation practices. Our objectives in the present study were to identify and characterize quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with FHB resistance in spring wheat lines developed in the PNW and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center. In total, 170 spring wheat lines were evaluated in field and greenhouse trials in 2015 and 2016. Fourteen lines showing consistent resistance in multiple environments were identified. These lines are valuable resources in wheat variety improvement of FHB resistance because they have no Sumai 3 or Sumai 3-related background. The 170 lines were genotyped using a high-density Illumina 90K single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) assay and 10 other non-SNP markers. A genome-wide association analysis was conducted with a mixed model (Q+K). Consistent, significant SNP associations with multiple traits were found on chromosomes 1B, 2B, 4B, 5A, 5B, and 6A. The locus on chromosome 5B for reduced deoxynivalenol content may be novel. The identified QTL are being validated in additional mapping studies and the identified resistant lines are being used in variety development for FHB resistance and facilitated by marker-assisted selection.

Mapping of STS markers developed from drought tolerance candidate genes and preliminary analysis of their association with yield-related traits in common wheat (Triticum aestivum)

Drought is a severe abiotic stress that affects wheat production worldwide. In order to identify candidate genes for tolerance to water stress in wheat, sequences of 11 genes that have function of drought tolerance in other plant species were used to identify the wheat ortholog genes via homology searching in the wheat EST database. Atotal of 11 primer pairs were identified and amplified PCR products in wheat. Of them, 10 STS markers were mapped on 11 chromosomes in a set of nulli-tetrasomic lines of ‘Chinese Spring’ wheat; six were mapped on chromosomes 1A, 1B, 4B, 7A, 2B and 5D, respectively, in a spring wheat mapping population (POP1). The marker XTaABH1 mapped on 7A in POP1 was the only one mapped but characterized in a winter wheat mapping population (POP2) for grain yield, kernel weight and diameter, and height in four-field trials applied different water stress or irrigation. The marker XTaABH1 was significantly associated with grain yield under rainfed condition, with kernel weight under terminal stress and non-irrigation conditions, with kernel diameter and height under non-irrigated condition. The STS primers, map information and marker-trait association produced in the currently study would be of interest to researchers working on drought tolerance.