Genome-wide association analysis of stripe rust resistance loci in wheat accessions from southwestern China

Wheat stripe rust can cause considerable yield losses, and genetic resistance is the most effective approach for controlling the disease. To identify the genomic regions responsible for Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici ( Pst ) resistance in a set of winter wheat strains mainly from southwestern China, and to identify DNA markers in these regions, we carried out a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 120 China winter wheat accessions using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers from 90K wheat SNP arrays. In total, 16 SNP loci were significantly associated with wheat stripe rust in field and greenhouse trials. Of these, three distinctive SNPs on chromosomes 1B, 4A, and 6A were identified at a site in Mianyang in 2014, where the most prevalent wheat stripe rust races since 2009 have been V26 (G22-9, G22-14). This suggests that the three SNP loci were linked to the new quantitative trait loci (QTL)/genes resistant to the V26 races. Germplasm with immunity to Pst is a good source of stripe rust resistance for breeding, and after further validation, SNPs closely linked to resistance QTLs/genes could be converted into user-friendly markers and facilitate marker-assisted selection to improve wheat stripe rust resistance.