Fusarium resistance in semi-dwarf wheat
Abstract
Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a relevant disease of wheat and other small grain cereals almost worldwide. Infection with Fusarium head blight may lead to serious yield losses and quality problems due to the contamination with mycotoxins. Genetic resistance plays a key role in integrated disease management. Resistance of wheat to Fusarium head blight is a quantitative trait modulated by several to many genes and influenced by the environment. Recent research has shown that the widely employed semi-dwarf allele of wheat Rht-D1b is strongly associated with severely enhanced FHB susceptibility. Whether this association is due to a pleiotropic effect of the semi-dwarf allele itself or due to close linkage with the susceptible allele of another gene is currently unknown. In this project we will use a transgenic approach in order to clarify this question. We will transfer recombinant versions of the semi-dwarf allele Rht-D1b from wheat chromosome 4D into a tall wheat variety by particle bombardment and subsequent back-crossing and evaluate the progeny of the transgenic plants for stem length and for FHB response. These tests will clarify whether the association of the presence of the semi-dwarf alleles with increased FHB susceptibility is controlled by the genes themselves (pleiotropy) or not (then the association is due to linkage).
keywords dwarfing gene wheat Fusarium resistance functional genomics
Publikationen
Project staff
Hermann Bürstmayr
Univ.Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.nat.techn. Hermann Bürstmayr
hermann.buerstmayr@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-97101, 97102
BOKU Project Leader
01.12.2011 - 30.11.2015
Eva Stöger
Univ.Prof. Mag. Dr.rer.nat. Eva Stöger
eva.stoeger@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-94001, 94311
Sub Projectleader
01.12.2011 - 30.11.2015