A Major Leaf Rust Resistance QTL Widely Exploited in Durum Wheat Breeding Maps on Chromosome 7BL

Roberto Tuberosa, Professor, Universoty of Bologna, Speaking at the Agrigenomics World Congress

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Launch presentation

About the speaker

The research activities of Prof. Roberto Tuberosa at the University of Bologna focus on the use of genomics approaches to map and clone major QTL for tolerance to biotic (e.g. fungal pathogens) and abiotic stress (e,g, drought) in durum wheat and maize. Most research activities are carried out in close collaboration with seed companies that deploy the relevant information to carry out marker-assisted selection for releasing improved cultivars. R. Tuberosa is the scientific coordinator of the Italian Technological Platform “Plants for the Future” which gathers over 130 scientists and many industries of the agrofood chain in Italy.

Abstract

Leaf rust (Puccinia triticina) is a major threat to durum wheat (Triticum durum) production. We combined linkage and association mapping to investigate the resistance from Creso, a successful cv. released in 1974, and its more recent derivatives. Creso’s leaf rust resistance has remained effective since 1975 in a range of Mediterranean environments characterized by recurrent leaf rust epidemics and in Mexico in spite of the appearance of at least two new races over the last eight years. After its release, Creso has been exploited extensively in breeding programs worldwide. Field and greenhouse experiments conducted in Italy and Mexico with a Creso-derived biparental mapping population and a panel of accessions allowed us to map and validate a major QTL on chr. 7BL for both the seedling and adult plant responses, with high R2 values (up to 77%). The QTL peak was confined to a 5 cM interval underlined by Xbarc340, Xgwm146 and Xgwm344 SSR markers and 12 DArT markers. Fine mapping of this QTL in underway as a prerequisite to its positional cloning.

Launch presentation