Abstract:
Wheat stands as one of the most vital staple crops in human civilization. Climate change is now an increasingly disruptive factor, with higher temperatures, erratic rainfall patterns, and increased frequency of floods results in fungal infection that disrupt both crop growth, quality and yields. Among the most economically significant diseases, black point, also called as kernel smudge, is a newly emerged fungal disease affecting wheat quality due to erratic rainfalls at harvesting time. The primary fungi responsible for black point disease include Fusarium proliferatum, Alternaria alternata and Bipolaris sorokiniana. Current study was performed to understand the causal pathogens prevailed in Pakistan’s wheat germplasm. Also identify the resistance sources and genetic factors controlling the resistance in wheat. For this purpose, 158 Pakistan’s wheat cultivars and landraces were screened for black point symptoms and identify the pathogen(s) present in the infected samples. Initial morphological screening under compound microscopy revealed that the most frequently recovered genera included Alternaria, and Fusarium. A factorial ANOVA based on infection type revealed highly significant (p < 0.001) genotype, year, and genotype × year interactions. This study detected 77 significant marker-trait associations (MTAs) across three years for infection type data. Most stable significant loci were detected on chromosomes 2A, 7A, 3B, 7B, 2D, associated with black point resistance in naturally infected Pakistani wheat germplasm. These results lay a foundation for developing durable black point-resistant cultivars, enhancing food security, grain quality, and disease resilience in one of the world’s most important staple crops. The integration of phenotypic, pathological, and genomic approaches has produced a valuable dataset for Pakistani wheat improvement efforts.
Page(s):
55-55
DOI:
DOI not available
Published:
Journal: 4th International Conference of Sciences “Revamped Scientific Outlook of 21st Century, 2025” , November 12,2025, Volume: 1, Issue: 1, Year: 2025
Keywords:
Fusarium proliferatum
,
Alternaria alternata
,
wheat black point
,
Genetic loci
,
Bipolaris sorokiniana
,
Black point resistance
,
Chromosomal loci
,
GWAS Genomewide Association Study
,
Markertrait association