Investigation and genome-wide association study for Fusarium crown rot resistance in Chinese common wheat

Background Fusarium crown rot (FCR) is a severe and chronic disease in common wheat and is able to cause serious yield loss and health problems to human and livestock. Results Here, 234 Chinese wheat cultivars were evaluated in four greenhouse experiments for FCR resistance and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) were performed using the wheat 660 K genotyping assay. The results indicated that most cultivars evaluated showed FCR disease index (DI) of 40–60, while some cultivars showed stably good FCR resistance (DI < 30). GWAS identified 286 SNPs to be significantly associated with FCR resistance, of which 266, 6 and 8 were distributed on chromosomes 6A, 6B and 6D, respectively. The significant SNPs on 6A were located in a 7.0-Mb region containing 51 annotated genes. On the other hand, QTL mapping using a bi-parental population derived from UC1110 and PI610750 detected three QTLs on chromosomes 6A (explaining 7.77–10.17% of phenotypic variation), 2D (7.15–9.29%) and 2A (5.24–6.92%). The 6A QTL in the UC1110/PI610750 population falls into the same chromosomal region as those detected from GWAS, demonstrating its importance in Chinese materials for FCR resistance. Conclusion This study could provide useful information for utilization of FCR-resistant wheat germplasm and further understanding of molecular and genetics basis of FCR resistance in common wheat.