Skip to main content
APS Plant Health 2025 Main banner
Icon Legend
This session is not in your schedule.
This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.

POSTERS: Genetics of Resistance II

P-280 - Functional confirmation of Fhb7 alleles for Fusarium head blight resistance in common wheat by genome editing combined with doubled haploid production

Tuesday, August 5, 2025
9:30 AM - 10:15 AM HST
Location: Exhibit Hall 3

    Presenting Author(s)

  • SS

    Shahed Safar, PhD (he/him/his)

    North Dakota State University
    Fargo, ND, USA

    • Author(s)

  • YL

    Yueqiang Leng, n/a

    Research Scientist
    North Dakota State University
    Fargo, North Dakota, United States

  • AP

    Alireza Poursafar

    North Dakota State University
    Fargo, North Dakota, United States

  • OA

    Olawumi Amusan, Doctoral Student

    Doctoral Graduate Research Assistant
    North Dakota State University
    Fargo, North Dakota, United States

  • AR

    Amna Riasat

    North Dakota State University
    Fargo, North Dakota, United States

  • CJ

    Cassie J Monson

    North Dakota State University
    Fargo, North Dakota, United States

  • MJ

    Madhusudhana Janga

    Institute of Genomics for Crop Abiotic Stress Tolerance, Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University
    Lubbock, Texas, United States

  • ZL

    Zhaohui Liu, n/a

    Faculty
    Department of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58102, USA
    Fargo, North Dakota, United States

  • XC

    Xiwen Cai

    USDA-ARS, Wheat, Sorghum & Forage Research Unit
    Lincoln, Nebraska, United States

  • SX

    Steven Xu

    USDA-ARS, Crop Improvement and Genetics Research Unit, Western Regional Research Center
    Albany, California, United States

  • SZ

    Shaobin Zhong

    Corresponding Author
    USDA-ARS, Cereal Disease Laboratory (CDL)
    St. Paul, Minnesota, United States

Abstract Text:

Fhb7 is a gene that encodes a glutathione S-transferase (GST) for detoxifying trichothecene and confers resistance to Fusarium head blight (FHB) in wheat. Two alleles (Fhb7Thp and Fhb7The2) of Fhb7 from Thinopyrum ponticum and Th. elongatum have been reported, but Fhb7The2 is more favorable for wheat breeding programs compared to Fhb7Thp because it can be used for both tetraploid (AABB) and hexaploid wheat (AABBDD) without linkage drag. To verify the function of GST for FHB resistance, we conducted targeted mutagenesis through wide hybridization between wheat lines carrying Fhb7 alleles and transgenic maize expressing Cas9 and guide RNA. First, we generated transgenic maize plants with a genome editing construct targeting the Fhb7 alleles by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Then, we used the transgenic maize pollens to pollinate three spring wheat lines (CS-Fhb7, PI 702949, and FW23-09-80) carrying Fhb7Thp or Fhb7The2. PCR amplification and sequencing indicated that 19% of the haploid plants derived from these three lines had mutations at the target sites. The first doubled haploid (DH) line with a mutation at Fhb7The2 showed significantly more susceptibility to FHB compared to its wild type in a greenhouse experiment. More DH mutants with Fhb7Thp or Fhb7The2 mutated are being evaluated for FHB resistance, and results will be presented. This research will verify the important role of GST in FHB resistance and demonstrate the power of the wheat × maize hybridization combined with genome editing technology for functional characterization of candidate genes in wheat.