Identification of Fusarium Head Blight Resistance QTLs in a Wheat Population Using SSR Markers

Fusarium head blight (FHB) caused by Fusarium graminearum is a destructive disease of wheat. Breeding for FHB resistance by conventional breeding methods is feasible but laborious and expensive. Detection of DNA markers associated with FHB resistance quantitative trait loci (QTL) will accelerate breeding programs. This study was conducted to identify simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers linked FHB resistance QTLs in wheat. A population of 167 F2:3 from the cross Wangshuibai (resistant)/Falat (susceptible) was used. The Type II resistance (spread of pathogen within a spike) was evaluated on F3 families derived from F2 plants in the greenhouse. Two QTLs were detected that together explained 25.1% of the phenotypic variation. A QTL region on chromosome 3B explained 16% of the variation. Additional QTL was located on chromosomes 2A accounting for 9.1% of the phenotypic variation.