[Genetics] Fusarium Head Blight Resistance from Synthetic Wheat

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a devastating fungal disease threatening global wheat production and food safety. In collaboration with scientists from USDA-ARS and North Dakota State University, we helped develop and analyze a modified nested association mapping population combining synthetic hexaploid wheat and elite spring wheat lines. Multi-environment disease evaluations and genome-wide association analyses identified 19 genomic regions associated with FHB resistance, including three potentially novel loci. Several resistant lines performed comparably to the widely used resistance source Sumai 3, highlighting the value of synthetic wheat for expanding the genetic basis of disease resistance. These results provide new genetic resources and markers for breeding more resilient wheat cultivars.