Approaching 25 years of progress towards Fusarium head blight resistance in southern soft red winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Abstract

Tremendous progress has been made in variety development and host plant resistance to mitigate the impact of Fusarium head blight (FHB) since the disease manifested in the southeastern United States in the early 2000s. Much of this improvement was made possible through the establishment of and recurring support from the US Wheat & Barley Scab Initiative (USWBSI). Since its inception in 1997, the USWBSI has enabled land-grant institutions to make advances in reducing the annual threat of devastating FHB epidemics. A coordinated field phenotyping effort for annual germplasm screening has become a staple tool for selection in public and private soft red winter wheat (SRWW) breeding programmes. Dedicated efforts of many SRWW breeders to identify and utilize resistance genes from both native and exotic sources provided a strong foundation for improvement. In recent years, implementation of genomics-enabled breeding has further accelerated genetic gains in FHB resistance. This article reflects on the improvement of FHB resistance in southern SRWW and contextualizes the monumental progress made by collaborative, persistent, and good old-fashioned cultivar development.