Poster

Megan E. Engel ¹, Frankie K. Crutcher ², Xiwen Cai ³, Andrew C. Hogg ¹, and Michael J. Giroux ¹
1. Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, USA
2. Eastern Agricultural Research Center, Department of Research Centers, Montana State University, Sidney, Montana, USA
3. USDA-ARS Wheat, Sorghum and Forage Research Unit, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
Corresponding Author: Megan E. Engel, megan.engel@montana.edu

Engel, Megan

megan.engel@student.montana.edu

Montana is the second-largest producer of durum wheat (Triticum turgidum subsp. durum) in the United States. Fusarium head blight (FHB) occurs most often in northeastern Montana when rain or irrigation coincides with flowering, increasing grain deoxynivalenol (DON) concentrations. Multiple FHB resistance genes have been identified, but none confers complete resistance; pyramiding resistance genes is therefore the preferred breeding strategy. We previously transferred Fhb1 and Fhb5 from hexaploid wheat into Montana durum. More recently, Thinopyrum elongatum-derived Fhb7The2 was introduced into the Montana-adapted durum cultivar ‘Blackbeard’ in a cooperative research project of USDA-ARS and Montana State University. Multiple Fhb1/Fhb5 durum populations and Blackbeard-Fhb7The2 were evaluated in multi-year field trials at the Eastern Agricultural Research Center (EARC) in Sidney, MT, which represents a major Montana durum production region. Blackbeard-Fhb7The2 reduced DON by 61% (p-value: 0.0005) and FHB disease score by 65% (p-value: 0.03) relative to Blackbeard, with yield decrease of 11% (n = 1 year); the best Fhb1/Fhb5 population reduced DON by 42%, FDK by 32%, and yield increase of 12% relative to the durum parent ‘Lustre’ through 2 years. The best-performing Fhb1/Fhb5 population, based on DON, yield, and FHB disease score, was crossed with Blackbeard-Fhb7The2, and Blackbeard-Fhb7The2 was also crossed with other high-yielding Montana-adapted durum cultivars. Progeny were advanced to the F2 generation, and tissue from 574 F2 plants was sent to the USDA-ARS North Central Small Grains Genotyping Laboratory in Fargo, ND, for KASP screening of the resistance genes and genome-wide SNP background selection to identify plants that carry the targeted resistance genes and are genetically closest to the highest-yielding Montana adapted parent. Selected lines will be evaluated at EARC for FHB incidence, DON, FDK, and yield to identify high-performing resistant genotypes and to compare the effectiveness of pyramiding Fhb1, Fhb5, and Fhb7The2 with that of Fhb7The2 alone.

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