Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2025 Mar;18(1):e20539.
doi: 10.1002/tpg2.20539.

Priority actions for Fusarium head blight resistance in durum wheat: Insights from the wheat initiative

Ambra Viviani  1 , Jemanesh K Haile  2 , W G Dilantha Fernando  3 , Carla Ceoloni  4 , Ljiljana Kuzmanović  4 , Dhondup Lhamo  5 , Yong-Qiang Gu  5 , Steven S Xu  5 , Xiwen Cai  6   7 , Hermann Buerstmayr  8 , Elias M Elias  9 , Alessia Confortini  1 , Matteo Bozzoli  1 , Gurcharn Singh Brar  10 , Yuefeng Ruan  11 , Samia Berraies  11 , Walid Hamada  12 , Safa Oufensou  13 , Malini Jayawardana  3 , Sean Walkowiak  14 , Salim Bourras  15 , Monika Dayarathne  3 , Julio Isidro Y Sánchez  16 , Fiona Doohan  17 , Agata Gadaleta  18 , Ilaria Marcotuli  18 , Xinyao He  19 , Pawan K Singh  19 , Susanne Dreisigacker  19 , Karim Ammar  19 , Valentyna Klymiuk  2 , Curtis J Pozniak  2 , Roberto Tuberosa  1 , Marco Maccaferri  1 , Barbara Steiner  8 , Anna Maria Mastrangelo  20 , Luigi Cattivelli  21
Affiliations
Review

Priority actions for Fusarium head blight resistance in durum wheat: Insights from the wheat initiative

Ambra Viviani et al. Plant Genome. 2025 Mar.

Erratum in

  • Erratum to: Priority actions for Fusarium head blight resistance in durum wheat: Insights from the wheat initiative.
    Viviani A, Haile JK, Dilantha Fernando WG, Ceoloni C, Kuzmanović L, Lhamo D, Gu YQ, Xu SS, Cai X, Buerstmayr H, Elias EM, Confortini A, Bozzoli M, Brar GS, Ruan Y, Berraies S, Hamada W, Oufensou S, Jayawardana M, Walkowiak S, Bourras S, Dayarathne M, Sánchez JIY, Doohan F, Gadaleta A, Marcotuli I, He X, Singh PK, Dreisigacker S, Ammar K, Klymiuk V, Pozniak CJ, Tuberosa R, Maccaferri M, Steiner B, Mastrangelo AM, Cattivelli L. Viviani A, et al. Plant Genome. 2025 Mar;18(1):e20565. doi: 10.1002/tpg2.20565. Plant Genome. 2025. PMID: 39833129 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

Abstract

Fusarium head blight (FHB), mainly caused by Fusarium graminearum and Fusarium culmorum, is a major wheat disease. Significant efforts have been made to improve resistance to FHB in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum), but more work is needed for durum wheat (Triticum turgidum spp. durum). Bread wheat has ample genetic variation for resistance breeding, which can be readily exploited, while durum wheat is characterized by higher disease susceptibility and fewer valuable resistance sources. The Wheat Initiative - Expert Working Group on Durum Wheat Genomics and Breeding has promoted a scientific discussion to define the key actions that should be prioritized for achieving resistance in durum wheat comparable to that found in bread wheat. Here, a detailed state of the art and novel tools to improve FHB resistance in durum are presented, together with a perspective on the next steps forward. A meta-analysis grouping all quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with FHB resistance in both bread and durum wheat has been conducted to identify hotspot regions that do not overlap with Rht alleles, which are known to negatively correlate with FHB resistance. A detailed list of QTL related to FHB resistance and deoxynivalenol contamination and durum lines carrying different sources of FHB resistance are provided as a strategic resource. QTL, closely linked markers and durum wheat lines carrying the useful alleles, can be selected to design an effective breeding program. Finally, we highlight the priority actions that should be implemented to achieve satisfactory resistance to FHB in durum wheat.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Quantitative trait loci (QTL) projection on the durum wheat consensus map available in Maccaferri et al. (2015). QTL from durum wheat publications are in yellow, QTL from bread wheat publications are in green. Genes related to Fusarium head blight (FHB) resistance are highlighted in red, and major QTL are highlighted in black. QTL reported in the same publication are aligned vertically.
FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Quantitative trait loci (QTL) projection on the durum wheat consensus map available in Maccaferri et al. (2015). QTL from durum wheat publications are in yellow, QTL from bread wheat publications are in green. Genes related to Fusarium head blight (FHB) resistance are highlighted in red, and major QTL are highlighted in black. QTL reported in the same publication are aligned vertically.
FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Quantitative trait loci (QTL) projection on the durum wheat consensus map available in Maccaferri et al. (2015). QTL from durum wheat publications are in yellow, QTL from bread wheat publications are in green. Genes related to Fusarium head blight (FHB) resistance are highlighted in red, and major QTL are highlighted in black. QTL reported in the same publication are aligned vertically.
FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Quantitative trait loci (QTL) projection on the durum wheat consensus map available in Maccaferri et al. (2015). QTL from durum wheat publications are in yellow, QTL from bread wheat publications are in green. Genes related to Fusarium head blight (FHB) resistance are highlighted in red, and major QTL are highlighted in black. QTL reported in the same publication are aligned vertically.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Adler, A. , Lew, H. , Brodacz, W. , Edinger, W. , & Oberförster, M. (1995). Occurrence of moniliformin, deoxynivalenol, and zearalenone in durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.). Mycotoxin Research, 11, 9–15. 10.1007/BF03192056 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Adnan, M. , Fahad, S. , Saleem, M. H. , Ali, B. , Mussart, M. , Ullah, R. , Amanullah, Arif, M. , Ahmad, M. , Shah, W. A. , Romman, M. , Wahid, F. , Wang, D. , Saud, S. , Liu, K. , Harrison, M. T. , Wu, C. , Danish, S. , Datta, R. , … Marc, R. A. (2022). Comparative efficacy of phosphorous supplements with phosphate solubilizing bacteria for optimizing wheat yield in calcareous soils. Scientific Reports, 12, 11997. 10.1038/s41598-022-16035-3 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Akel, W. , Rapp, M. , Thorwarth, P. , Würschum, T. , & Longin, C. F. H. (2019). Hybrid durum wheat: Heterosis of grain yield and quality traits and genetic architecture of anther extrusion. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 132, 921–932. 10.1007/s00122-018-3248-6 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Alahmad, S. , Kang, Y. , Dinglasan, E. , Mazzucotelli, E. , Voss‐Fels, K. P. , Able, J. A. , Christopher, J. , Bassi, F. M. , & Hickey, L. T. (2020). Adaptive traits to improve durum wheat yield in drought and crown rot environments. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 21, 5260. 10.3390/ijms21155260 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alisaac, E. , & Mahlein, A.‐K. (2023). Fusarium head blight on wheat: Biology, modern detection and diagnosis and integrated disease management. Toxins, 15, 192. 10.3390/toxins15030192 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources