Characterization and identification of the powdery mildew resistance gene in wheat breeding line ShiCG15-009

Powdery mildew, caused by Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici (Bgt), is a serious fungal disease that critically threatens the yield and quality of wheat. Utilization of host resistance is the most effective and economical method to control this disease. In our study, a wheat breeding line ShiCG15-009, released from Hebei Province, was highly resistant to powdery mildew at all stages. To dissect its genetic basis, ShiCG15-009 was crossed with the susceptible cultivar Yannong 21 to produce F-1, F-2 and F-2:3 progenies. After genetic analysis, a single dominant gene, tentatively designated PmCG15-009, was proved to confer resistance to Bgt isolate E09. Further molecular markers analysis showed that PmCG15-009 was located on chromosome 2BL and flanked by markers XCINAU130 and XCINAU143 with the genetic distances 0.2 and 0.4 cM, respectively, corresponding to a physic interval of 705.14-723.48 Mb referred to the Chinese Spring reference genome sequence v2.1. PmCG15-009 was most likely a new gene differed from the documented Pm genes on chromosome 2BL since its different origin, genetic diversity, and physical position. To analyze and identify the candidate genes, six genes associated with disease resistance in the candidate interval were confirmed to be associated with PmCG15-009 via qRT-PCR analysis using the parents ShiCG15-009 and Yannong 21 and time-course analysis post-inoculation with Bgt isolate E09. To accelerate the transfer of PmCG15-009 using marker-assisted selection (MAS), 18 closely or co-segregated markers were evaluated and confirmed to be suitable for tracing PmCG15-009, when it was transferred into different wheat cultivars.

Automated summary

A highly resistant wheat breeding line ShiCG15-009 was identified to have a single dominant gene, PmCG15-009, conferring resistance to powdery mildew. Molecular marker analysis revealed that PmCG15-009 is located on chromosome 2BL and can be efficiently transferred to other wheat cultivars using marker-assisted selection.