Semi-dwarfing Rht-B1 and Rht-D1 loci of wheat differ significantly in their influence on resistance to Fusarium head blight

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is an important disease of wheat worldwide. Soissons is one of the most resistant varieties grown in UK. The current study was undertaken to identify QTL for FHB resistance in Soissons and to determine whether the semi-dwarfing alleles Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b have a similar influence on susceptibility to FHB. A Soissons (Rht-B1b; Rht-D1a) × Orvantis (Rht-B1a; Rht-D1b) doubled haploid (DH) population was assessed for FHB resistance in three trials. Soissons contributed a single, stable major FHB QTL linked to the Rht-D1 locus. In contrast, the Rht-B1b allele (contributed by Soissons) conferred no negative effect on FHB resistance, even conferring a very minor positive effect in one trial. The influence of the Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b alleles on FHB resistance was further investigated using both Mercia and Maris Huntsman near-isogenic lines. Under high disease pressure both Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b significantly decreased Type 1 resistance (resistance to initial infection). However, whilst Rht-D1b has no effect on Type 2 resistance (resistance to spread of the fungus within the spike), Rht-B1b significantly increased Type 2 resistance. Our study demonstrates that the choice of semi-dwarfing gene used in plant breeding programmes may be a significant consideration where resistance to FHB is an important breeding target.