abstract
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Fusarium head blight (FHB) caused by Fusarium graminearum is a major disease of wheat in North America. FHB infection reduces grain yield, affects end-use quality, and accumulates mycotoxins such as deoxynivalenol (DON) in the grain. Inheritance of FHB resistance is complex and involves multiple genes with small cumulative effects. The objective of this research was to identify QTL associated with FHB resistance in two double haploid winter wheat populations. The populations represent different genetic backgrounds (Triumph/25R51; n=103 and D8006W/Superior; n =107). FHB phenotyping experiments were conducted for both populations in replicated field disease nurseries in three locations in Canada in 2016 and 2017 and one location in 2018. Plots were spray inoculated with a macroconidia mixture of four F. graminearum isolates representing two chemotypes. Disease incidence and severity were recorded 21 days post inoculation and FHB index was calculated. Percentage Fusarium damaged kernels and DON content were measured on collected grain samples. Parental lines showed moderate reaction across all environments for FHB traits. However, the populations showed transgressive segregation for FHB reaction with wide continuous distributions. Genotyping of the populations was performed using the 90K Illumina Infinium iSelect single nucleotide polymorphism array and high-quality informative SNP were selected for further analysis. A linkage map was developed with a total length of 3175.74 cM using 2179 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for the Triumph/25R51 population and a 2107.5 cM map with 1259 SNPs was developed for the D8006W/Superior population. QTL analysis of the D8006W/Superior population showed several consistent FHB resistance QTL on chromosomes 1A, 2D, 4B, 5A and 7A across multiple environments. QTL analysis is in progress for the Triumph/25R51 population. Significant FHB resistance QTL identified from this project will be used to facilitate marker assisted selection in winter wheat breeding programs.