Creation of Near-Isogenic Wheat Lines for Use in Validating the Effect of a Novel Source of Fusarium Head Blight Resistance

Abstract

Fusarium Head Blight, also known as scab, is the most serious disease affecting wheat production in the upper Midwest. Scab is caused by the fungus Fusarium graminearum. Scab is the major reason for the dramatic loss of wheat production in the 1990’s and is still a major problem today. Therefore, identifying a novel source of genetic resistance in wheat is very important. Dr. James Anderson’s lab identified a quantitative trait locus (QTL) region on the long arm of chromosome 3B that appears to be conferring resistance to scab. The purpose of this research is to create near-isogenic wheat lines (NILs) to validate and quantify the effect of the QTL on Fusarium Head Blight infection.