Resistance to powdery mildew is conferred by different genetic loci at the adult-plant and seedling stages in winter wheat line Tianmin 668

Winter wheat line Tianmin 668 was crossed with susceptible cultivar Jingshuang 16 to develop 216 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) for dissecting its adult-plant resistance (APR) and all stage resistance (ASR) against powdery mildew. The RIL population was genotyped on a 16K Genotyping by Target Sequencing (GBTS) SNP array and phenotyped in six field trials and in the greenhouse. Three loci, QPmtj.caas-2BL, QPmtj.caas-2AS, and QPmtj.caas-5AL, conferring APR to powdery mildew, were detected on chromosomes 2BL, 2AS, and 5AL of Tianmin 668, respectively. The effect of resistance to powdery mildew for QPmtj.caas-2BL was greater than that of the other two loci. A Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR (KASP) marker specific for QPmtj.caas-2BL was developed and verified on 402 wheat cultivars or breeding lines. Results of virulence/avirulence patterns to 17 Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici (Bgt) isolates, bulked segregant analysis-RNA-sequencing (BSR-Seq), and a genetic linkage mapping identified a resistance allele at locus Pm4 in Tianmin 668 based on the seedling phenotypes of the RIL population. The PCR-based DNA sequence alignment and co-segregation of the functional marker with the phenotypes of the RIL population demonstrated that Pm4d was responsible for the ASR to isolate Bgt1 in Tianmin 668. The dissection of genetic loci for APR and ASR may facilitate the application of Tianmin 668 in developing powdery mildew-resistant wheat cultivars.