Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) is an economically devastating disease of wheat causing low yields and poor quality. FHB, caused by Fusarium graminearum, disrupts the grain filling phase and results in bleached spikes and undeveloped seeds. Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a mycotoxin produced by the fungal pathogen and is harmful when consumed by humans and causes feed rejection in livestock. Using FHB resistant varieties and timely applications of fungicides is the optimum strategy for management of this disease. However, there has been little research focusing on the impact that FHB resistance genes have on wheat yield, flavor, and baking quality. The objective of this study is to evaluate the impacts of different combinations of resistance genes on yield and flavor. Knowing these impacts will improve breeding efforts for FHB resistance breeding of wheat while maintaining acceptable yield and flavor.

This study involves two populations: yield and quality populations. Both populations were created from a three-way cross between parents containing either FHB resistance genes, desirable characteristics (strong gluten, high yield, etc.), or both. From each of these two populations, 150 lines were derived and are being evaluated for presence of FHB resistance genes. There will soon be two years of agronomic data, one year of multi-location agronomic data, a flavor profile study, and genomic predictions. This study will also explore the reliability of machine learning and bioinformatic models to predict the resistance genes present in each line to identify lines that have the optimal balance between FHB resistance, yield, and flavor. This study aims to evaluate effects caused by breeding for FHB resistance to better focus breeding efforts on ways to achieve the highest FHB resistance and minimize negative effects on important agronomic and end-use characteristics of wheat.