Dwarfing Genes Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b Are Associated with Both Type I FHB Susceptibility and Low Anther Extrusion in Two Bread Wheat Populations

It has been well documented that dwarfing genes Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b are associated with Type I susceptibility to Fusarium head blight (FHB) in wheat; but the underlying mechanism has not been well delineated. Anther extrusion (AE) has also been related to Type I resistance for initial FHB infection, where high AE renders FHB resistance. In this study, two doubled haploid populations were used to investigate the impact of the two dwarfing genes on FHB resistance and AE, and to elucidate the role of AE in Rht-mediated FHB susceptibility. Both populations were derived by crossing the FHB susceptible cultivar ‘Ocoroni F86’ (Rht-B1a/Rht-D1b) with an FHB resistant variety (Rht-B1b/Rht-D1a), which was ‘TRAP#1/BOW//Taigu derivative’ in one population (the TO population) and ‘Ivan/Soru#2’ in the other (the IO population). Field experiments were carried out from 2010 to 2012 in El Batán, Mexico, where spray inoculation was adopted and FHB index, plant height (PH), and AE were evaluated, with the latter two traits showing always significantly negative correlations with FHB severity. The populations were genotyped with the DArTseq GBS platform, the two dwarfing genes and a few SSRs for QTL analysis, and the results indicated that Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b collectively accounted for 0–41% of FHB susceptibility and 13–23% of reduced AE. It was also observed that three out of the four AE QTL in the TO population and four out of the five AE QTL in the IO population were associated with FHB resistance. Collectively, our results demonstrated the effects of Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b on Type I FHB susceptibility and reducing AE, and proposed that their impacts on Type I FHB susceptibility may partly be explained by their effects on reducing AE. The implication of the relationship between the two dwarfing genes and AE for hybrid wheat breeding was also discussed.