Breeding resistant wheat cultivars to Fusarium head blight (FHB), caused by Fusarium spp., is the best method for controlling the disease. The aim of this study was to estimate general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) for FHB resistance in a set of eight genetically diverse winter wheat cultivars to identify potential donors of FHB resistance for crossing. FHB resistance of parents and F1 crosses produced by the half diallel scheme was evaluated under the conditions of artificial inoculation with F. graminearum and natural infection. Four FHB related traits were assessed: visual rating index (VRI), Fusarium damaged kernels (FDK), and deoxynivalenol and zearalenone content in the harvested grain samples. Significant GCA effects for FHB resistance were observed for the parental cultivars with high FHB resistance for all studied FHB resistance related traits. The significant SCA and mid-parent heterosis effects for FHB resistance were rare under both artificial inoculation and natural infection conditions and involved crosses between parents with low FHB resistance. A significant negative correlation between grain yield under natural conditions and VRI (r = −0.43) and FDK (r = −0.47) under conditions of artificial inoculation was observed in the set of the studied F1 crosses. Some crosses showed high yield and high FHB resistance, indicating that breeding of FHB resistant genotypes could be performed without yield penalty. These crosses involved resistant cultivars with significant GCA effects for FHB resistance indicating that that they could be used as good donors of FHB resistance.

Pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) of wheat poses a major challenge to global food security due to its negative impact on grain yield and quality. In the present study, we conducted the validation of previously published markers or functional markers associated with PHS resistance in a panel of 200 wheat cultivars adapted to Southeastern European conditions. In field experiments conducted in four environments in Croatia, the germination index (GI) was assessed, and significant genetic, environmental, and genotype–environment interactions were detected. The broad-sense heritability for GI was high (0.86), confirming the predominant role of genetic factors in determining PHS resistance. Twenty-two polymorphic SNP markers were analyzed for their effects on GI, of which nine markers from chromosomes 3A, 3B, 4A, 5A, and 7B showed significant genotypic effects across environments, especially TaMKK3-A and wsnp_Ex_rep_c66324_64493429. In addition, nine marker combinations were identified, which showed significant differences in GI between allele combinations. Overall, this study elucidates the genetic basis of PHS resistance in wheat cultivars adapted to the agro-climatic conditions of Southeast Europe and provides insights for marker-assisted breeding strategies to improve PHS resistance.

Po zasijanim je površinama ozima pšenica (Triticum aestivum L.) jedna od najvažnijih ratarska kultura kako u svijetu, tako i u Republici Hrvatskoj. Pored uroda zrna, u posljednje vrijeme u proizvodnji pšenice sve veću važnost imaju i parametri kvalitete, a posebno se tu naglašava sadržaj proteina u zrnu. U trogodišnjem istraživanju provedenom na 10 lokacija diljem Republike Hrvatske procijenjen je utjecaj godine, lokacije i sorte na urod zrna i sadržaj proteina u zrnu na 6 sorata ozime pšenice. Analizom varijance utvrđen je signifikantan utjecaj godine, lokacije i sorte na sadržaj proteina i urod zrna. Interakcija godina × lokacija bila je signifikantna, dok interakcije godina × sorta i lokacija × sorta nisu bile signifikantne niti za jedno proučavano svojstvo. Na osnovi udjela sume kvadrata pojedinih izvora varijabilnosti u ukupnoj sumi kvadrata, najveći utjecaj na svojstvo sadržaja proteina imala je godina, zatim sorta, a najmanji lokacija. Godina je također imala najveći utjecaj na urod zrna, zatim slijedi lokacija, a najmanji utjecaj imala je sorta. Na osnovi izračunanoga koeficijenta varijacije po godinama, lokacijama i sortama, sadržaj proteina pokazao se stabilnijim svojstvom od uroda zrna.