Work package 1
Development of new and efficient tools to accelerate the development of new cultivars with low risk of mycotoxin accumulation
Enhancement of conventional selection efficiency for resistant lines based on detailed phenotyping after initiating the disease by artificial infection in the mist irrigated field and under controlled conditions.
Objective:
The objective of WP1 is a detailed description
of the
Fusarium head
blight (FHB) resistance properties of all populations used in this project.
FHB is a complex trait consisting of different resistance components such as
resistance towards penetration of the fungus (Type I), resistance towards colonization
(Type II) and resistance towards the toxins produced by the
fungus (Type III). Thorough and well replicated measurement of the FHB
resistance components of plant material (mapping populations and a screening
nursery of genotypes from diverse sources) will be conducted by participants
with a long standing expertise in this field. We have to account for genotype
by environment interaction and therefore experiments will be done over several
years on different locations across Europe. Artificial inoculation techniques
will come to use. The inoculation techniques will be adapted depending on the
resistance component under investigation. Apart from visual assessments of FHB
on the field several additional disease parameters will be measured in the
laboratory.
Description
of work:
In
order to obtain reliable data on FHB, field experiments are carried out
overall several years on several locations across Europe. Artificial
inoculation will be carried out with all relevant toxigenic Fusarium
spp causing FHB in wheat in the EC. Several
wheat populations will be investigated in detail:
Subtask 1. Phenotyping of a wheat screening nursery
A wheat screening nursery of 100 winter wheat genotypes including
commercial cultivars, experimental genotypes, wheat lines with different
resistance components and several FHB resistance sources will be investigated.
The participating breeders will inoculate with local inoculation techniques.
Subtask 2. Phenotyping of mapping populations
Three mapping populations (CM82038 / Remus
Frontana / Remus Arina / Riband) and two fine mapping populations will
be investigated in detail for resistance component I and II.
Subtask 3. Phenotyping of high resolution mapping populations
A selected set of 80 DH from the mapping populations will be
inoculated with several Fusarium spp. including Microdochium nivale
on two locations. Resistance component I, II, III will be determined. In
addition, a whole array of disease parameters will be determined including
visual evaluations of disease development,
grain weight per spike,
yield reduction (tolerance), 1000-grain weight, visual kernel infection
assessment (% of infected grains),
density of infested grains etc.
Fungal biomass (ergosterol measurements and quantitative PCR) and toxin
content of the grain will be measured. Techniques to determine resistance of
wheat towards deoxynivalenol (type III resistance) will be optimized.