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We found two loci on chromosomes 2BS and 6AL that significantly contribute to stripe rust resistance in current European winter wheat germplasm. Stripe or yellow rust, caused by the fungus Puccinia striiformis Westend f. sp. tritici, is one of the most destructive wheat diseases. Sustainable management of wheat stripe rust can be achieved through the deployment of rust resistant cultivars. To detect effective resistance loci for use in breeding programs, an association mapping panel of 230 winter wheat cultivars and breeding lines from Northern and Central Europe was employed. Genotyping with the Illumina® iSelect® 25 K Infinium® single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping array yielded 8812 polymorphic markers. Structure analysis revealed two subpopulations with 92 Austrian breeding lines and cultivars, which were separated from the other 138 genotypes from Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, and Switzerland. Genome-wide association study for adult plant stripe rust resistance identified 12 SNP markers on six wheat chromosomes which showed consistent effects over several testing environments. Among these, two marker loci on chromosomes 2BS (RAC875_c1226_652) and 6AL (Tdurum_contig29607_413) were highly predictive in three independent validation populations of 1065, 1001, and 175 breeding lines. Lines with the resistant haplotype at both loci were nearly free of stipe rust symptoms. By using mixed linear models with those markers as fixed effects, we could increase predictive ability in the three populations by 0.13-0.46 compared to a standard genomic best linear unbiased prediction approach. The obtained results facilitate an efficient selection for stripe rust resistance against the current pathogen population in the Northern and Central European winter wheat gene pool.

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is one of the major fungal diseases in wheat throughout the world. To control FHB severity, breeding genetically resistant varieties is thought to be the most promising strategy. In wheat breeding programmes, short cultivars predominantly carrying the Norin 10 derived semi-dwarfing allele Rht-D1b (Rht2) are preferred worldwide because of higher achievable grain yields and lower risk of lodging. This study was conducted to determine the influence of different alleles at the Rht-D1 locus on FHB reaction. Three winter wheat populations were produced by crossing rather susceptible varieties ‘Biscay’, ‘Pirat’ and ‘Rubens’ carrying mutant-type allele Rht-D1b with the more resistant varieties ‘Apache’, ‘Romanus’ and ‘History’ containing the Rht-D1a wild-type allele (rht2). The 190, 216 and 103 progeny of the F4-derived populations were assayed for the presence of Rht-D1a or Rht-D1b, plant height, and mean FHB rating after spray inoculation at flowering time with a highly aggressive isolate of Fusarium culmorum. Comparably, high mean FHB severities ranging from 28% to 49% for all population × environment combinations were achieved, with significant genotypic variation for FHB rating and plant height within all populations. Both traits were negatively correlated with r ranging from −0.48 to −0.61 in the complete populations. However, within the subpopulations homozygous for one or other height allele these correlations decreased considerably. The Rht-D1b semi-dwarfing allele resulted in 7–18% shorter plants, depending on the population, but a considerably increased FHB reaction of 22–53%. Nevertheless, significant genotypic variance for FHB resistance remained in all tested Rht-D1b subpopulations indicating that selection for moderately FHB resistant genotypes within agronomically beneficial Rht-D1b genotypes is still feasible.

Fusarium head blight (FHB) resistance is of particular importance in wheat breeding programmes due to the detrimental effects of this fungal disease on human and animal health, yield and grain quality. Segregation for FHB resistance in three European winter wheat populations enabled the identification of resistance loci in well-adapted germplasm. Populations obtained from crosses of resistant cultivars Apache, History and Romanus with susceptible semi-dwarfs Biscay, Rubens and Pirat, respectively, were mapped and analysed to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for FHB severity, ear emergence time and plant height. The results of the present study together with previous studies in UK winter wheat indicated that the semi-dwarfing allele Rht-D1b seems to be the major source for FHB susceptibility in European winter wheat. The high resistance level of the cultivars Romanus and History was conditioned by several minor resistance QTL interacting with the environment and the absence of Rht-D1b. In contrast, the semi-dwarf parents contributed resistance alleles of major effects apparently compensating the negative effects of Rht-D1b on FHB reaction. The moderately resistant cultivar Apache contributed a major QTL on chromosome 6A in a genome region previously shown to carry resistance loci to FHB. A total of 18 genomic regions were repeatedly associated with FHB resistance. The results indicate that common resistance-associated genes or genomic regions are present in European winter wheats.

Septoria tritici blotch (STB), caused by S. tritici, Stagonospora glume blotch (SGB), caused by S. nodorum, and Fusarium head blight (FHB), caused by F. graminearum and F. culmorum, are the most important diseases of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in temperate growing areas. The main goals of this study were to detect (1) new quantitative trait loci (QTL) for STB resistance in two adapted European biparental populations (Arina/Forno, History/Rubens) and (2) QTL regions for broad-spectrum resistance (BSR) to the above-mentioned diseases during the adult-plant stage in the field. The three resistances were phenotyped across 4–7 field environments and phenotypic data revealed significant (P < 0.01) genotypic differentiation in all cases. Entry-mean heritabilities (h²) ranged from 0.73 to 0.93. For STB resistance, correlations between disease ratings and heading date were significant (P < 0.01), but moderate (r = −0.23 to −0.30) in both populations. Correlations between STB and plant height were higher in Arina/Forno (r = −0.45) and History/Rubens (r = −0.55), the latter population segregating at the Rht-D1 locus. During the initial QTL analysis, 5 QTL were detected for STB resistance in each of the populations, amounting to an explained genotypic variance of 45–63%, thus, showing the same ranges as FHB and SGB resistances in Arina/Forno and FHB resistance in History/Rubens. In total, 7 BSR QTL were found in the meta-analysis with the raw data, including the QTL on chromosome 4D at the Rht-D1 locus. A BSR QTL for all three diseases was not found but several BSR QTL for combinations with two diseases were detected. Combining the BSR QTL detected in the present breeding material by applying marker-assisted selection seems a promising approach.

We report on the verification of a resistance quantitative trait locus (QTL) on chromosome 1BL (now designated Qfhs.lfl-1BL) which had been previously identified in the winter wheat cultivar Cansas. For a more precise estimation of the QTL effect and its influence on plant height and heading date lines with a more homogeneous genetic background were created and evaluated in four environments after spray inoculation with Fusarium culmorum. Qfhs.lfl-1BL reduced FHB severity by 42% relative to lines without the resistance allele. This QTL did not influence plant height, but significantly delayed heading date by one day. All of the most resistant genotypes of the verification population carried this major QTL displaying its importance for disease resistance. This resistance QTL has not only been found in the cultivar Cansas, but also in the three European winter wheat cultivars Biscay, History and Pirat. A subsequent meta-analysis confirmed the presence of a single QTL on the long arm of chromosome 1B originating from the four mentioned cultivars. Altogether, the results of the present study indicate that Qfhs.lfl-1BL is an important component of FHB resistance in European winter wheat and support the view that this QTL would be effective and valuable in backcross breeding programmes.