Evaluation of Septoria nodorum blotch (SNB) resistance in glumes of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in multiple field environments and the genetic relationship with foliar disease response

Abstract Septoria nodorum blotch (SNB) is a necrotrophic disease of wheat prominent in some parts of the world, including Western Australia (WA) causing significant losses in grain yield. The genetic mechanisms for resistance are complex involving multiple quantitative trait loci. In order to decipher comparable or independent regulation, this study identified the genetic control for glume compared to foliar resistance across four environments in WA against 37 different isolates. High proportion of the phenotypic variation across environments was contributed by genotype (84.0% for glume response and 82.7% for foliar response) with genotype-by-environment interactions accounting for a proportion of the variation for both glume and foliar response (14.7% and 16.2%, respectively). Despite high phenotypic correlation across environments, most of the eight and 14 QTL detected for glume and foliar resistance, respectively, were identified as environment-specific. QTL for glume and foliar resistance neither co-located nor were in LD in any particular environment indicating autonomous genetic mechanisms control SNB response in adult plants, regulated by independent biological mechanisms and influenced by significant genotype-by-isolate-by environment interactions. Known Snn and Tsn loci and QTL were compared with 22 environment-specific QTL. None of the eight QTL for glume or the 14 for foliar response were co-located or in linkage disequilibrium with Snn and only one foliar QTL was in LD with Tsn loci on the physical map. Therefore, known NE-Snn interactions are of limited relevance to glume and foliar SNB response in WA environments and other biological mechanisms are likely to prevail for host resistance and susceptibility.