Breeding strategies against FHB in winter wheat and their relation to Type I resistance

Type I resistance is a significant and powerful resistance component. Spraying inoculation covers reactions to both Type I and Type II. A significant synergetic effect was detected between Type I and Type II QTLs. It seems that Type I resistance at present cannot be directly measured, only as a difference between point and spraying inoculation. However, this does not influence the success of the selection. For breeding the spraying methodology is more suitable as it considers much wider genetic background than the point inoculation does. The highest resistance in the Szeged program was achieved by the use of exotic spring wheat sources in winter wheat, but excellent agronomy types were identified at a relative low ratio. Good or excellent resistance can be identified at a low rate in breeding material without exotic FHB resistance sources, but their agronomy value is much better. Ratio of high resistance is frequent in winter wheat lines created form winter and spring wheat resistance sources. An efficient phenotypic selection is inevitable. Repeatability of the test is generally good or excellent; LSD values are normally less than 10% of the variation width. FDK and toxin measurements are integrant part of the program since 35 and 20 years, respectively. Several methodical considerations are discussed.