Elimination of the yellow pigment gene PSY-E2 tightly linked to the Fusarium head blight resistance gene Fhb7 from Thinopyrum ponticum

Fhb7 is a major gene that was transferred from Thinopyrum ponticum to chromosome 7D of wheat(Triticum aestivum)and confers resistance to both Fusarium head blight(FHB)and Fusarium crown rot(FCR).However,Fhb7 is tightly linked to the PSY-E2 gene,which causes yellow flour,limiting its application in breeding.To break this linkage,marker K-PSY was developed for tagging PSY-E2 and used with Fhb7 markers to identify recombination between the two genes.Screening 21,000 BC1F2 backcross progeny(Chinese Spring ph1bph1b*2/SDAU 2028)revealed two Fhb7^(+)wheat-Tp7el_(2)L lines,Shannong 2–16and Shannong 16–1,that carry a desired truncated Fhb7^(+)translocation segment without PSY-E2.The two lines show levels of resistance to FHB and FCR similar to those of the original translocation line SDAU 2028,but have white flour.To facilitate Fhb7 use in wheat breeding,STS markers were developed and used to isolate Fhb7 on a truncated Tp7el_(2) translocation segment.Near-isogenic lines carrying the Fhb7^(+)segment were generated in the backgrounds of three commercial cultivars,and Fhb7^(+)lines showed increased FHB and FCR resistance without yield penalty.The breakage of the tight linkage between Fhb7 and PSY-E2 via homoeologous recombination provides genetic resources for improvement of wheat resistance to FHB and FCR and permit the large-scale deployment of Fhb7 in breeding using marker-assisted selection.

Molecular Cytogenetic Characterization and Stem Rust Resistance of Five Wheat-Thinopyrum ponticum Partial Amphiploids

Partial amphiploids created by crossing common wheat （Triticum aestivum L.） and Thinopyrum ponticum （Podp.） Barkworth ＆ D. R. Dewey are important intermediates in wheat breeding because of their resistance to major wheat diseases. In this study, we examined the chromosome compositions of five Xiaoyan-series wheat-Th, ponticum partial amphiploids （Xiaoyan 68, Xiaoyan 693, Xiaoyan 784, Xiaoyan 7430, and Xiaoyan 7631） using GISH, multicolor-GISH, and multicolor-FISH. We found several chromosome changes in these lines. For example, wheat chromosomes 1B and 2B were added in Xiaoyan 68 and Xiaoyan 7430, respectively, while wheat chromosome 6B was eliminated from Xiaoyan 693 and Xiaoyan 7631. Chromosome rearrangements were also detected in these amphiploids, including an interspecific translocation involving chromosome 4D and some intergenomic translocations, such as A--B and A--D translocations, among wheat genomes. Analysis of the Th. ponticum chromosomes in the amphiploids showed that some lines shared the same alien chromosomes. We also evaluated these partial amphiploids for resistance to nine races of stem rust, including TTKSK （commonly known as Ug99）. Three lines, Xiaoyan 68, Xiaoyan 784, and Xiaoyan 7430, exhibited excellent resistance to all nine races, and could therefore be valuable sources of stem rust resistance in wheat breeding.

Variation in Chromosome Constitution of the Xiaoyan Series Partial Amphiploids and Its Relationship to Stripe Rust and Stem Rust Resistance

The wild relatives of wheat （Triticum aestivum L.） contain tremendous amounts of potentially useful genes and represent a promising source of genetic diversity for wheat improvement （Bommineni and Jauhar, 1997）. Thinopyrum ponticum （Popd.） Barkworth and D. R. Dewey [syn. Agropyron elongatum （Host） P. Beauv., Elytrigia pontica （Podp.） Holub, Lophopy- rum ponticum （Podp.） A. L6ve] （2n = 10x = 70）, has high crossability with various Triticum species. Numerous studies have shown that Th. ponticum carries many potentially valu- able resistance genes against biotic and abiotic stresses （Shannon, 1978; Cox, 1991; Zheng et al., 2014a,b）. Transferring the useful genes from Th. ponticum to common wheat through chromosome engineering had been a successful way to enhance the resistance of wheat to pests and diseases （Sharma et al., 1989; McIntosh, 1991）.