Resistance to Fusarium head blight (FHB) is influenced not only by numerous quantitative trait loci (QTL) but also by morphological traits such as plant height and anther retention. Together, these traits explain approximately 60% of the resistance.
In a large-scale experiment, we are analyzing six crosses between varieties from the same Rht group with similar plant height and similar anther retention, but significantly different Fusarium resistance. Each cross includes 200 progenies evaluated at three locations over two years. In addition, the progenies of the most phenotypically interesting crosses are being genotyped using SNP markers.
The aim of the experiment is to:
- Distinguish the relative importance of morphological and genetic factors for selecting Fusarium resistance,
- Explore options for selecting short, resistant varieties using only Rht24,
- Clarify whether low anther retention can be used as a selection criterion for FHB resistance, which would be valuable for hybrid breeding,
- Develop selection markers for future use.
