The inheritance of resistance to head blight caused by Fusarium culmorum in winter wheat

Summary Crosses were made among ten winter wheat genotypes representing different levels of resistance to Fusarium head blight to obtain F₁ and F₂ generations. Parents, F₁ and F₂ were inoculated with one strain of Fusarium culmorum. Data on incidence of head blight 21 days after first inoculation were analyzed. Broad-sense heritabilities averaged 0.39 and ranged from 0.05 to 0.89 in the individual F₂ families. The joint-scaling test indicated that the inheritance of Fusarium head blight resistance was adequately described by the additive-dominance model, with additive gene action being the most important factor of resistance. With respect to the non-additive effects, dominance of resistance predominated over recessiveness. The number of segregating genes governing resistance in the studied populations was estimated to vary between one and six. It was demonstrated that resistance genes differed between parents and affected resistance differently.