Mapping and genetic analysis of QTLs for Fusarium head blight resistance to disease spread in Yangmai 16

Fusarium head blight (FHB) resistance of Yangmai wheat cultivars has been paid much attention, but the underlying genetic mechanism is unclear. In recent years, Yangmai 16 is a predominant wheat cultivar durably resistant to FHB in production. A population of 174 double haploid lines (DH) produced by crossing Yangmai 16 (YM16) with the susceptible cultivar Zhongmai 895 (ZM895) was evaluated for FHB response using point inoculation from 2017 to 2019. The DH population was genotyped with wheat 660K SNP array and a high-density genetic map was constructed. Six resistance QTLs were detected, and among them, five were from the resistant parent Yangmai 16 and one from Zhongmai 895. QFhb.yaas-4DS and QFhb.yaas-6AS were detected at least in two years, explaining 8.8% to 15.0% of the phenotypic variances, respectively. QFhb.yaas-2DL and QFhb.yaas-3BL were detected only in one year, accounting for 10.5% and 14.7% of the phenotypic variances. QFhb.yaas-5BL and QFhb.yaas-4BS were detected in one year, too, accounting for 6.4% and 8.3% of the phenotypic variances, respectively. Pyramiding of multiple resistant loci with large effects (>10%) is an effective approach to increase FHB resistance. The QTLs identified from Yangmai 16 in the present study will provide a starting point for genetic studies of other Yangmai cultivars, and the QTLs closely linked to markers will be useful for marker-assisted selection in wheat FHB improvement.