Reaction of elite wheat genotypes from the northern Great Plains of North America to septoria diseases

Stagonospora nodorum blotch (SNB), caused by Phaeosphaeria nodorum, and Septoria tritici blotch (STB), caused by Mycosphaerella graminicola, are the main pathogens of the Septoria disease complex of wheat (Triticum aestivum) in North America. This study was conducted to determine the disease reaction of 126 elite hard red spring, white, and durum wheat cultivars and advanced breeding lines collected from the northern Great Plains of the United States and Canada to SNB and STB. Seedlings of the 126 wheat genotypes were evaluated for resistance to SNB and STB under controlled environmental conditions. Moreover, these 126 wheat genotypes also were infiltrated with culture filtrate of P. nodorum isolate Sn2000. Based on disease reactions, three cultivars (McNeal, Dapps, and Oklee) and 12 advanced breeding lines (CA-901-580W, 97SO254-8-1, MN03291, MN03308, WA007925, MT0245, ND756, ND801, ND803, ND808, ND809, and ND811) adapted to the northern Great Plains were found to be resistant to both Septoria diseases and insensitive to the culture filtrate. Additionally, eight genetically diverse lines and cultivars, including two tetraploid wheat genotypes, were identified to be resistant to both Septoria diseases. These results suggest that the wheat genotypes contain a broad genetic base for resistance to the Septoria diseases in the northern Great Plains of the United States and Canada, and the resistant sources identified in this study may be utilized in wheatbreeding programs.