Breeding for the resistance to Fusarium head blight of wheat in China

With the changes of climate and cultivation systems, the Fusarium head blight (FHB) epidemic area in China has extended since 2000 from the reaches of the Yangtze River to the north and west winter wheat region. Breeding for FHB resistance in wheat is an effective way to control the disease. Chinese wheat breeders commenced research on FHB in the 1950s. Sumai 3, Ning 7840, Yangmai 158, Ningmai 9 and other cultivars with improved FHB resistance were developed through standard breeding methods and widely applied in production or breeding programs. In addition to intervarietal crosses, alien germplasm was used to improve FHB resistance of wheat. Addition, substitution and translocation lines with alien chromosomes or chromosome fragments were created to enhance FHB resistance. Somaclonal variation was also used to develop a FHB resistant cv. Shengxuan 3 and other cultivars with moderate resistance to FHB were released by such methods. QTL (quantitative trait loci) for FHB resistance were characterized in cultivars originating from China. The major QTL, Fhb1, was identified on chromosome 3BS in Sumai 3, Ning 894037, Wangshuibai and other Chinese resistant sources. Diagnostic molecular markers for Fhb1 have been applied in wheat breeding and breeding lines with improved FHB resistance and desirable agronomic traits have been obtained. However, breeding for FHB resistance is a long-term task, new technologies are likely to increase the efficiency of this process and better FHB resistance of new cultivars is expected to be achieved within the next decade.