Authors: Harika Pothula1, Evan Salsman1, Suraj Sayal1, Justin Hegstad1, Yueqiang Leng2, Jason Axtman1, Zhao Jin1, Shaobin Zhong3, Jason Fiedler4, Elias Elias1, and Xuehui Li1
1. North Dakota State University, Department of Plant Sciences, Fargo, ND 58108, USA
2. North Dakota State University, Department of Plant Pathology, Fargo, ND 58108, USA
3. USDA-ARS, Cereal Disease Laboratory, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA
4. USDA-ARS, Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center, Cereal Crops Improvement Research Unit, Fargo, ND 58102, USA
Corresponding Author: Xuehui Li, xuehui.li@ndsu.edu
Presenting Author: Xuehui Li
Abstract
Fusarium head blight (FHB) is one of the most devastating fungal diseases affecting durum wheat in North Dakota. Breeding for FHB resistance in durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. subsp. durum) remains particularly challenging due to the limited availability of resistant germplasm. ND-WGE-22S2393 is a BC₁F₃-derived line developed from an interspecific cross between the hard red spring (HRS) wheat resistant line ND-WGE-20S558 and the local durum wheat cultivar ‘ND Riveland’. ND-WGE-20S558 is a male-sterile half-sib line selected from an HRS recurrent selection population for FHB resistance. Selection of progenies from the interspecific cross was based on phenotypic performance under both greenhouse and field conditions. ND-WGE-22S2393 was evaluated for FHB resistance over four years at two locations and exhibited significantly lower disease severity and deoxynivalenol (DON) concentration compared with the check cultivar ND Riveland. Genotyping using the KASP marker Fhb1-FM227 confirmed that ND-WGE-22S2393 carries the resistant allele of the Fhb1 gene. ND-WGE-22S2393 showed similar plant height to the cultivar ‘ND Grano’ but was shorter than ND Riveland. Flowering occurred approximately two days earlier than in ND Riveland. Overall, ND-WGE-22S2393 represents a valuable FHB-resistant pre-breeding germplasm well adapted to the Northern Great Plains.