************************************************************************************ 1998 Uniform Regional Scab Nursery for Spring Wheat Parents ************************************************************************************ Robert Busch: Coordinator, USDA-ARS. Plant Science Unit, St. Paul, MN 55108 Gary Linkert: Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, Univ. of Minnesota Leanne Matthiesen: Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, Univ. of Minnesota The Uniform Regional Scab Nursery was grown for the fourth time in 1998 at 6 locations including St. Paul and Morris, MN; Langdon and Prosper, ND; Brookings, SD; and Glenlea, Manitoba. All nurseries used were misted and inoculated with Fusarium to obtain infection in the entries. A total of 33 entries were tested including 4 checks (Pioneer 2375, Wheaton, BacUp and Oslo) and 29 parental lines including 4 durums. Most entries have a Chinese source of resistance (Sumai#3, Ning 8331 or Ning 7840) in their pedigrees except for 4 to 5 lines and the durums. All entries were planted in single rows or hill-planted with 2 to 4 replicates in each location. Inoculation was conducted by scattering infected kernels and/or by spraying the spikes with macroconidia spore suspension during anthesis (2 X104 to 10 X 104 spores/ml). A misting system was used for enhancing the disease infection and spread. Visual head symptoms of scab infection and post-harvested visual scabby kernel rating (or % Tombstone) based on a standard set were assessed. DON analyses were also conducted. Each location's data are presented separately and entry means were used for the combined location's analysis. Level of disease varied with locations. Location means for Disease Index or FHI3 index ranged from 18.6% at St. Paul to 63.8% at Brookings. Percent tombstone ranged from 6.7% at St. Paul to 58.8% at Brookings. Entry performance varied with locations. Heading date had considerable impact at Morris with earlier heading entries less affected by Fusarium. Correlations among the traits, Disease index, % Tombstone, and DON among the traits and between locations are given in Table 9a. Langdon % Tombstone data were most closely related to Manitoba, and was not well associated with either Morris or St. Paul. Yield from Brookings was well related to % Tombstone from the other locations with St. Paul % Tombstone lowest (r=-0.5) to Brookings % Tombstone highest (r=-0.88). Langdon test weight was related to % Tombstone poorest to St. Paul % Tombstone (r=-0.3) and best to Langdon % Tombstone (r=-0.67). Correlation among the means over locations indicated that DON, % Tombstone, and Disease Index were highly positive with the lowest association between DON and Disease Index (Table 9b). Severity was not related to any of the other traits, while incidence was related to both DON and % Tombstone. Selection for Disease Index and % Tombstone appear to be providing similar information for resistance. DON was less well related, but this maybe mainly due to only St. Paul and Morris having collected these data. A more northern site may have provided a less biased relationship.