Determination of resistance in winter wheat genotypes to the dryland root rots caused by Fusarium culmorum in Turkey

Abstract

The dryland root rot (foot/crown) caused by Fusarium spp. attacks cereals especially wheat and causes severe yield loss by reducing both grain quantity and quality. Among those Fusarium species attacking wheat crop is the Fusarium culmorum species which has been reported as the main crown rot causal agent in Turkey. Unfortunately, up-to-date, there is only some wheat genotypes with partial resistant to Fusarium spp. Therefore, this study was carried out to find new sources of resistance in diverse wheat genotypes to limit the damage caused by Fusarium disease. In this study, a total of 141 genotypes and breeding lines were obtained from 19 different countries, provided via the International Winter Wheat Improvement Program (IWWIP) and screened for their resistance reactions to a local isolate of Fusarium culmorum under three different environmental conditions (growth room, greenhouse and field) in Turkey in 2012. The best performed genotypes in terms of resistant were then rescreened in 2013 for data validation. Out of the 141 phenotyped wheat genotypes, 17 genotypes (12 %) ranked as moderately resistant (MR) at seedling and/or adult growth stage. The genotypes from Mexico seemed to have adult plant resistant rather than seedling resistance which was higher in the USA genotypes. Winter bread wheats PATWIN YR5 and TAST/SPRW//ZAR/5/YUANDONG 3/4/PPB8- 68/CHRC/3/PYN//TAM101/AMIGO which possess high level of resistance seem promising for breeding for foot rot.