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In order to characterise quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for Type I and Type II resistance against Fusarium head blight (FHB) in wheat, a population of recombinant inbred lines derived from the cross Cansas (moderately resistant)/Ritmo (susceptible) was evaluated in spray-inoculated field trials over three seasons. Map-based QTL analysis across environments revealed seven QTLs on chromosomes 1BS, 1DS, 3B, 3DL, 5BL, 7BS and 7AL ( QFhs.whs-1B, QFhs.whs-1D, QFhs.whs-3B, QFhs.whs-3D, QFhs.whs-5B, QFhs.whs-7A, QFhs.whs-7B) associated with FHB resistance. They accounted for 56% of the phenotypic variance. QFhs.whs-1D primarily appeared to be involved in resistance to fungal penetration, whereas the other QTLs mainly contributed to resistance to fungal spread. FHB resistance was significantly correlated with plant height (PH) and heading date (HD). Including all single environments, corresponding overlaps of QTLs for FHB resistance and QTLs for PH/HD occurred at six loci, among them two consistently detected QTLs, QFhs.whs-5B and QFhs.whs-7A. When significant effects of PH and HD on FHB resistance were eliminated by covariance analysis, a second QTL analysis revealed possible escape mechanisms for the majority of the coincidental loci. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fusarium head blight (FHB) resistance is of particular importance in wheat breeding programmes due to the detrimental effects of this fungal disease on human and animal health, yield and grain quality. Segregation for FHB resistance in three European winter wheat populations enabled the identification of resistance loci in well-adapted germplasm. Populations obtained from crosses of resistant cultivars Apache, History and Romanus with susceptible semi-dwarfs Biscay, Rubens and Pirat, respectively, were mapped and analysed to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for FHB severity, ear emergence time and plant height. The results of the present study together with previous studies in UK winter wheat indicated that the semi-dwarfing allele Rht-D1b seems to be the major source for FHB susceptibility in European winter wheat. The high resistance level of the cultivars Romanus and History was conditioned by several minor resistance QTL interacting with the environment and the absence of Rht-D1b. In contrast, the semi-dwarf parents contributed resistance alleles of major effects apparently compensating the negative effects of Rht-D1b on FHB reaction. The moderately resistant cultivar Apache contributed a major QTL on chromosome 6A in a genome region previously shown to carry resistance loci to FHB. A total of 18 genomic regions were repeatedly associated with FHB resistance. The results indicate that common resistance-associated genes or genomic regions are present in European winter wheats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]