To develop high-yielding and FHB-resistant wheat cultivars in the Yellow and Huai River Valley Winter Wheat Zone (YHWZ), simultaneously improving of yield and resistance was conducted in this study.

Using the elite parent dwarf male sterile (DMS) wheat combined with double haploid (DH) technology and molecular marker assisted selection (MAS) of Fhb1 (DMS wheat molecular breeding strategy), DH lines were developed using Sumai 3 as a donor (FHB- resistant parent) and Zhoumai 16’s DMS wheat, Zhoumai 16, Lunxuan 136 and Lunxuan 6 as recipient parents. The agronomic traits (plant height, heading date, yield, etc.) and FHB resistance were evaluated for these DH lines.

A total of 51 Fhb1-DH lines characterized by facultative growth habit, semi-dwarf and white grains were selected using this strategy. The average number of infected spikelets of 51 lines were 5.7 and 7.3 at the 2020Henan and 2020Beijing sites, respectively, and average disease severities were 27.7% and 35.2%, which is not different from moderately susceptible control Huaimai 20. There was no significant difference in grain yield per hm² between the mean performance of the 51 lines and the control Zhoumai 18. DH116 (Lunxuan 20), a promising line from the 51 lines, was further evaluated for FHB resistance and agronomic traits in multiple environments. The resistance of Lunxuan 20 to FHB was significantly improved, and no significant difference was found in the number of infected spikelets or disease severity between Lunxuan 20 and moderately or highly resistant controls at four sites. Lunxuan 20 showed slightly greater grain yield per hm², and significantly higher number of spikelets per spike and thousand grain weight (P<0.05), earlier heading date and shorter plant height (P<0.05) than the control Zhoumai 18 in two environments. The grain yield per hm² of Lunxuan 20 was 4.6% and 1.7% higher than the control cultivar Bainong 207 in the two list trials of Henan Province, and 3.5% higher than Bainong 207 in the demonstration trial. Resistance of Lunxuan 20 to FHB ranged from moderate susceptibility to moderate resistance in two-year list tests using the single-floret injection and spray inoculation methods. Lunxuan 20 carries the semi-dwarfing gene Rht-D1b at the Rht-D1 locus, and the recessive alleles vrn-A1, vrn-B1 and vrn-D1 associated with the winter growth habit at the Vrn-A1, Vrn-B1 and Vrn-D1 loci. Based on the wheat 660K single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), 64.7% of the SNPs were shared by Lunxuan 20 and its parents, and the direct genetic contributions of Zhoumai 16, Lunxuan 136, Lunxuan 6 and Sumai 3 to Lunxuan 20 were 69.8%, 12.6%, 6.1% and 11.5%, respectively.

A high-yielding and FHB-resistant wheat cultivar Lunxuan 20 was bred using the DMS wheat molecular breeding strategy.