Abstract
Fusarium crown rot (FCR) is a serious disease in wheat and barley in semiarid regions worldwide. The feasibility of enhancing FCR resistance by gene pyramiding was investigated by generating and assessing two populations segregating for three large-effect QTL located on the long arms of chromosomes 1H, 3H and 4H, respectively. Significant effects were detected for each of the three QTL in both of the populations assessed. Lines with any combination of two resistant alleles from the three QTL gave, on average, significantly better resistance than those with a single resistant allele only, and lines with resistant alleles from all three of the QTL gave the least FCR symptom. However, wide variations in FCR severity were detected for lines belonging to each of the groups with different numbers of resistant alleles. Significant effects of plant height on FCR were detected in both populations, and a significant association between heading date and FCR severity was detected in one of the two populations assessed. Results from the current study also showed that the effects of a given allele of resistance decreased with the increase in the number of resistant alleles an individual group possessed. Overall, results from this study demonstrate that gene pyramiding can be an effective approach in improving FCR resistance and those lines with resistant alleles from all of the three QTL could be valuable for breeding programs.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akinsanmi OA, Mitter V, Simpfendorfer S, Backhouse D, Chakraborty S (2004) Identity and pathogenicity of Fusarium spp. isolated from wheat fields in Queensland and northern New South Wales. Aust J Agric Res 55:97–107
Bai Z, Liu C (2015) Histological evidence for different spread of Fusarium crown rot in barley genotypes with different heights. J Phytopathol. 163:91–97. doi:10.1111/jph.12283
Burgess LW, Backhouse D, Swan LJ, Esdaile RJ (1996) Control of Fusarium crown rot of wheat by late stubble burning and rotation with sorghum. Australas Plant Pathol 25:229–233
Burgess LW, Backhouse D, Summerell BA, Swan LJ (2001) Fusarium: Paul E. Nelson Memorial Symposium. In: Sununerell BA, Leslie JF, Backhouse D, Bryden WL, Burgess LW (eds) The American Phytopathological Society, Minnesota, p 271
Chakraborty S, Liu CJ, Mitter V, Scott JB, Akinsanmi OA, Ali S, Dill-Macky R, Nicol J, Backhouse D, Simpfendorfer S (2006) Pathogen population structure and epidemiology are a key to wheat crown rot and Fusarium head blight management. Australas Plant Pathol 35:643–655
Chen GD, Li HB, Zheng Z, Wei YM, Zheng YL, McIntyre CL, Zhoul MX, Liu CJ (2012) Characterization of a QTL affecting spike morphology on the long arm of chromosome 3H in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) based on near isogenic lines and a NIL-derived population. Theor Appl Genet 125:1385–1392
Chen G, Liu Y, Ma J, Zheng Z, Wei Y, McIntyre CL, Zheng YL, Liu C (2013a) A novel and major quantitative trait locus for Fusarium crown rot resistance in a genotype of wild barley (Hordeum spontaneum L.). PLoS ONE 8(3):e58040. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0058040
Chen GD, Li YX, Wei YM, McIntyre CL, Zhou MX, Zheng YL, Liu CJ (2013b) Major QTL for Fusarium crown rot resistance in a barley landrace. Theor Appl Genet 126:2511–2520
Chen G, Yan W, Liu Y, Wei Y, Zhou M, Zheng YL, Manners JM, Liu C (2014) The non-gibberellic acid-responsive semi-dwarfing gene uzu affects Fusarium crown rot resistance in barley. BMC Plant Biol 14:22
Duncan DB (1955) Multiple range and multiple F tests. Biometrics 11:1–42
Hogg AC, Johnston RH, Johnston JA, Klouser L, Kephart KD, Dyer AT (2010) Monitoring Fusarium crown rot populations in spring wheat residues using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Phytopathology 100:49–57
Kirkegaard JA, Simpfendorfer S, Holland J, Bambach R, Moore KJ, Rebetzke GJ (2004) Effect of previous crops on crown rot and yield of durum and bread wheat in northern NSW. Aust J Agric Res 55:321–334
Li XM, Liu CJ, Chakraborty S, Manners JM, Kazan K (2008) A simple method for the assessment of crown rot disease severity in wheat seedlings inoculated with Fusarium pseudograminearum. J Phytopathol 156:751–754
Li HB, Xie GQ, Ma J, Liu GR, Wen SM, Ban T, Chakraborty S, Liu CJ (2010) Genetic relationships between resistances to Fusarium head blight and crown rot in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Theor Appl Genet 121:941–950
Liu YX, Yang XM, Ma J, Wei YM, Zheng YL, Ma HX, Yao JB, Manners JM, Liu CJ (2010) Plant height affects crown rot severity in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Phytopathology 100:1276–1281
Liu YX, Ma J, Yan W, Yan GJ, Zhou MX, Liu CJ (2012a) Different tolerance in bread wheat, durum wheat and barley to Fusarium crown rot disease caused by Fusarium pseudograminearum. J Phytopathol 160:412–417
Liu YX, Zheng YL, Wei YM, Zhou MX, Liu CJ (2012b) Genotypic differences to crown rot caused by Fusarium pseudograminearum in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). Plant Breed 131:728–732
Ma J, Li HB, Zhang CY, Yang XM, Liu YX, Yan GJ, Liu CJ (2010) Identification and validation of a major QTL conferring crown rot resistance in hexaploid wheat. Theor Appl Genet 120:1119–1128
Ma J, Yan GJ, Liu CJ (2012) Development of near-isogenic lines for a major QTL on 3BL conferring Fusarium crown rot resistance in hexaploid wheat. Euphytica 183:147–152
Murray GM, Brennan JP (2009) Estimating disease losses to the Australian wheat industry. Australas Plant Pathol 38:558–570
Murray GM, Brennan JP (2010) Estimating disease losses to the Australian barley industry. Australas Plant Pathol 39:85–96
Ramsay L, Macaulay M, degli Ivanissevich S, MacLean K, Cardle L, Fuller J, Edwards KJ, Tuvesson S, Morgante M, Massari A, Maestri E, Marmiroli N, Sjakste T, Ganal M, Powell W, Waugh R (2000) A simple sequence repeat-based linkage map of barley. Genetics 156:1997–2005
Smiley RW, Gourlie JA, Easley SA, Patterson LM, Whittaker RG (2005) Crop damage estimates for crown rot of wheat and barley in the Pacific Northwest. Plant Dis 89:595–604
Van Ooijen J, Kyazma B (2009) MapQTL® 6: software for the mapping of quantitative trait loci in experimental populations. Kyazma B.V., Wageningen, The Netherlands
Zheng Z, Kilian A, Yan G, Liu C (2014) QTL conferring Fusarium crown rot resistance in the elite bread wheat variety EGA Wylie. PLoS ONE 9(4):e96011. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0096011
Acknowledgments
Funding to the work reported in this paper from the Grain Research and Development Corporation (Project Code CSP00149) is gratefully acknowledged. GC thanks the China Scholarship Council for funding his visit to CSIRO, the National Natural Science Foundation (Project 31401377) and the Key Project of Education Department in Sichuan Province (Project 14ZA0002) for their supports. AH is grateful to University of Tasmania, Australia, and Khulna University, Bangladesh, for financial supports during the tenure of his PhD studentship. The authors are also grateful to Caritta Eliasson, Zhi Zheng and Jian Ma for their invaluable technical assistance.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Guangdeng Chen and Ahsan Habib have contributed equally to this work.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chen, G., Habib, A., Wei, Y. et al. Enhancing Fusarium crown rot resistance by pyramiding large-effect QTL in barley. Mol Breeding 35, 26 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11032-015-0255-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11032-015-0255-z