Quantitative trait loci mapping for adult-plant resistance to powdery mildew in bread wheat

Powdery mildew, caused by Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici, is a major disease to wheat (Triticum aestivum) worldwide. Use of adult-plant resistance (APR) is an effective method to develop wheat cultivars with durable resistance to powdery mildew. In the present study, 432 molecular markers were used to map quantitative trait loci (QTL) for APR to powdery mildew in a doubled haploid (DH) population with 107 lines derived from the cross Fukuho-komugi x Oligoculm. Field trials were conducted in Beijing and Anyang, China during 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 cropping seasons, respectively. The DH lines were planted in a randomized complete block design with three replicates. Artificial inoculation was carried out in Beijing with highly virulent isolate E20 of B. graminis f. sp. tritici and the powdery mildew severity on penultimate leaf was evaluated four times, and the maximum disease severity (MDS) on penultimate leaf was investigated in Anyang under natural inoculation in May 2004 and 2005. The heritability of resistance to powdery mildew for MDS in 2 years and two locations ranged from 0.82 to 0.93, while the heritability for area under the disease progress curve was between 0.84 and 0.91. With the method of composite interval mapping, four QTL for APR to powdery mildew were detected on chromosomes 1AS, 2BL, 4BL, and 7DS, explaining 5.7 to 26.6% of the phenotypic variance. Three QTL on chromosomes 1AS, 2BL, and 7DS were derived from the female, Fukuho-komugi, while the one on chromosome 4BL was from the male, Oligoculm. The QTL on chromosome 1AS showed high genetic effect on powdery mildew resistance, accounting for 19.5 to 26.6% of phenotypic variance across two environments. The QTL on 7DS associated with the locus Lr34/Yr18, flanked by microsatellite Xgwm295.1 and Ltn (leaf tip necrosis). These results will benefit for improving powdery mildew resistance in wheat breeding programs.