Special Topic on Wheat Stress Tolerance Breeding

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Comprehensive Evaluation of Drought Tolerance and Physiological Regulatory Mechanism of Wheat Seedlings

Liu Yuhang, Shi Yuhan, Yang Yiting, Li Xueting, Jiang Mengxin, Li Jiayi, Li Junhua, Sang Shifei, Feng Liuchun, Wang Li

Journal of Henan Agricultural Sciences 2026, 55 (7): 1-10. DOI: 10.15933/j.cnki.1004-3268.2026.07.001

Abstract （673）

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With 120 wheat germplasms as materials，PEG6000 solution was used to simulate drought stress at seedling stage.Plant height，root length，fresh weight of shoot，dry weight of shoot，fresh weight of root，dry weight of root，root⁃shoot ratio and SPAD value were determined，and their drought tolerance coefficients were calculated.Principal component analysis（PCA）was performed based on their drought tolerance coefficients，cluster analysis was conducted using the comprehensive drought tolerance value（D），and comprehensive evaluation of drought tolerance of wheat germplasms was carried out.Highly drought⁃tolerant and drought⁃sensitive germplasms were selected to determine H₂O₂，malondialdehyde（MDA），proline（Pro），soluble sugar（SS）contents and catalase（CAT）activity，so as to analyze the physiological regulatory mechanism of drought tolerance.The pre⁃experiment confirmed that 25% was the optimal PEG6000 concentration，all phenotypic traits showed extremely significant difference compared with the control under this concentration. Drought stress obviously decreased fresh weight of shoot，dry weight of shoot，and SPAD value，but increased root length and root⁃shoot ratio.The correlations among phenotypic traits changed obviously under drought stress compared with those under normal water condition. Under drought stress，the correlation between root length and dry weight of shoot disappeared，SPAD value was significantly positively correlated with plant height and fresh weight.Genotype，drought and their interaction had extremely significant effects on all eight phenotypic traits.PCA showed that the first four principal components accounted for 86.67% of the total variation.The drought tolerance coefficients of all traits were extremely significantly positively correlated with D value，among which the correlation coefficients between drought tolerance coefficients of fresh weight of shoot，dry weight of shoot，fresh weight of root，dry weight of root and D value were higher， which were core indexes for drought tolerance identification. Cluster analysis based on D value showed that the wheat germplasms were divided into five groups，and 15 highly drought⁃tolerant germplasms were screened out，including Xinong 109，Luohan 22，Shannong 116，Xinmai 26，Yu’an X208，Bainong 207，Luyuan 502，Bainong 4199，Xinmai 60，Xinong 519，Wenmai 801，Saidemai 8，Yunong 186，Xinong 20，and Fengdecun 20.Compared with highly drought⁃sensitive germplasms， highly drought⁃tolerant germplasms had significantly lower H₂O₂ and MDA contents，and significantly higher CAT activity，Pro and SS contents，and CAT activity，Pro and SS contents were significantly or extremely significantly positively correlated with D value，indicating that highly drought⁃tolerant germplasms alleviate drought damage by enhancing CAT activity，accumulating Pro and SS，and reducing H_₂O_₂ and MDA accumulation.

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Identification and Evaluation of Resistance to Stripe Rust of 480 Wheat Germplasms

DAI Ziju, LI Wenxu, YANG Huimin, ZHU Xiuhua, WANG Yahuan, XU Fuxin, LIU Dongyang, HOU Jinna, QIN Maomao, WU Zhengqing, ZHOU Zhengfu, LEI Zhensheng

Journal of Henan Agricultural Sciences 2024, 53 (9): 1-15. DOI: 10.15933/j.cnki.1004-3268.2024.09.001

Abstract （1610）

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The main purpose of the present study is to understand the resistance to stripe rust and the utilization of stripe rust resistant genes in current bred wheat varieties,and find the varieties containing novel stripe rust resistant loci.Totally,480 domestic and foreign wheat germplasms were collected from various planting regions.The varieties were inoculated with mixed races of CYR32,CYR33 and CYR34 for testing the adult plant resistance.Simultaneously,the resistance to leaf rust and powdery mildew was investigated in infected field.The KASP markers closely linked or co‑segregated with stripe rust,leaf rust and powdery mildew genes,Yr18/Lr34/Sr57/Pm38(7DS),Yr29/Lr46/Pm39/Sr58(1BL)and Yr30/Lr27/Sr2/Sb3(3BS),were selected for identifying the previous reported pleiotropic resistant genes.The results showed that there were 35(accounting for 7.29%)germplasms showed immunization to CYR32,CYR33 and CYR34,while the numbers of high‑resistant and medium‑resistant germplasms were 69(14.38%)and 79(16.46%),respectively.And the other 297(61.88%)germplasms demonstrated medium‑ or high‑ susceptible to the inoculated races.There were 13,10 and 7 germplasms containing the Yr18,and Yr29 and Yr30 genes,respectively;only 3 germplasms contained two of the resistant genes;no germplasm was detected with all the three resistant genes.In conclusion,183(accounting for 38.12%)germplasms showed resistant to stripe rust at adult plant stage,and 27 germplasms were detected with the above resistant genes.Yr18 or Yr30 gene showed resistant to the current races of stripe rust,however,the resistance level of Yr29 gene was partly lost at adult plant stage.

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Genome‐Wide Association Study and Candidate Gene Prediction of Arsenic Content in Wheat Grains

SHI Xia, SUN Dongling, CHANG Yang, LI Wenxu, DAI Ziju, ZHOU Zhengfu, WU Zhengqing, LEI Zhensheng

Journal of Henan Agricultural Sciences 2025, 54 (10): 21-32. DOI: 10.15933/j.cnki.1004-3268.2025.10.003

Abstract （899）

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In order to provide a theoretical basis for the arsenic（As） biofortification breeding in wheat grains，an association population comprising 207 wheat varieties（lines）was used as material，genotyping was done by wheat 660K SNP array，combining with phenotypic data under different environments and best linear unbiased prediction（BLUP）value，a genome‐wide association study（GWAS）was conducted on As content in wheat grains，genetic loci were identified，and candidate genes associated with As content in wheat grains were predicted. The haplotype analysis and linear regression analysis methods were used to analyze the superior and inferior haplotypes of stable SNP loci associated with As content in wheat grains and their aggregated effect. The results showed that there were obvious variation in grain As content under multiple environments，and the grain As content exhibited a normal distribution.By using a mixed linear model（MLM），a total of 67 SNPs were identified to be significantly associated with grain As content at the genome‐wide level. Among these，six SNPs located on chromosomes 1A，2A，2D，3B，and 6B（AX‐110393422，AX‐110370420，AX‐109339465，AX‐109455432，AX‐109359598，AX‐111655266）were consistently detected under multiple environments，and were considered as stable quantitative trait nucleotides（QTNs）.Additionally，a SNP hotspot was identified at the end of chromosome 6B.The peak SNP AX‐111655266 was detected under all environments，which exhibited the strongest association with grain As content，explained the phenotypic variation of 15.14%—21.53% ，and was a major‐effect QTN.Based on public wheat expression profile data and differential expression analysis of candidate genes at 20 days post‐anthesis in the association population，combined with physical location and functional annotation information，candidate genes were predicted.The candidate gene TraesCS6B02G418600，tightly linked to SNP AX‐111655266，encoding a phosphate transporter PHO1‐like protein，which may be involved in transmembrane transport and signal transduction of As，was a major‐effect gene controlling grain As content in wheat. The candidate genes for the other five SNP loci were TraesCS1A02G346700，TraesCS2A02G106800，TraesCS2D02G171500，TraesCS3B02G131500，and TraesCS3B02G252500，encoding F‐box protein，thiamine pyrophosphokinase 1，GEM‐like protein 1，ubiquitin‐onjugating enzyme E2‐like protein，and protein phosphatase 2C family protein，respectively. They were candidate genes involved in regulating As accumulation in wheat grains.The grain As content in the superior haplotype group was significantly lower than that in the inferior haplotype group under all environments.Furthermore，as the number of superior haplotypes increased，the grain As content gradually decreased，demonstrating a clear additive effect.

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Identification and Agronomic Trait Analysis of Pre⁃harvest Sprouting⁃Resistant Mutants of Zhoumai 22

WANG Yubo, WANG Yixing, DING Lin, XU Hao, ZHAO Wei, LI Na, JIE Yize, TIAN Zhicheng, MENG Panpan, TANG Jianwei, DONG Chunhao, LI Qiaoyun, YIN Guihong, HUANG Zhenpu

Journal of Henan Agricultural Sciences 2026, 55 (6): 11-22. DOI: 10.15933/j.cnki.1004-3268.2026.06.002

Abstract （581）

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Aiming at the serious shortage of pre⁃harvest sprouting（PHS）⁃resistant germplasm and cultivars in the Huang⁃Huai wheat region，a mutant library was constructed using Zhoumai 22 by ethyl methanesulfonate（EMS） mutagenesis.PHS⁃resistant mutants with excellent agronomic traits were screened through PHS resistance identification and agronomic trait analysis，so as to provide elite germplasm resources for PHS resistance breeding. The results showed that a total of 36 mutants with moderate or higher PHS resistance were identified from 1 189 mutants，which exhibited large variation coefficients and abundant variations in plant height，effective tiller number per plant，spike length，grain number per spike，1 000⁃grain weight，and grain yield per plant.Among the 36 PHS⁃resistant mutants，23 mutants showed no significant difference in plant height compared with wild type（WT），16 mutants had no significantly lower grain yield per plant than WT，and eight mutants had no significantly lower 1 000⁃grain weight than WT. Twelve mutants（SFY04，SFY05，SFY06，SFY13，SFY15，SFY18，SFY21，SFY22，SFY23，SFY24，SFY27，and SFY33）performed well in both plant height and grain yield per plant. Among them，SFY05，SFY13，SFY18，SFY22，SFY24，and SFY27 showed moderate or higher PHS resistance in two cropping years.Among the 16 mutants with no significantly lower grain yield per plant than WT，two mutants（SFY30 and SFY04）had no significant difference in 1 000⁃grain weight compared with WT，retaining the large⁃grain characteristic of WT.Among them，SFY30 was a dwarf mutant with large grains. Grain yield per plant was extremely significantly positively correlated with effective tiller number per plant.The 36 PHS⁃resistant mutants were clustered into four groups.Group Ⅰ contained 12 mutants including SFY03 and so on，with relatively balanced comprehensive traits. Group Ⅱ contained 20 mutants including Zhoumai 22 and so on，with obvious high⁃yield characteristics. Group Ⅲ contained four mutants including SFY15 and so on，belonging to the grain⁃number⁃per⁃spike superior type. Group Ⅳ had only one mutant（SFY19），which was extremely prominent in plant height and spike length（both the highest），belonging to a special ecotype or genetic extreme material. In conclusion，13 PHS⁃resistant mutants with excellent agronomic traits were developed and identified，including 12 mutants with superior performance in both plant height and grain yield per plant，and one dwarf mutant with large grains.Among them，six mutants（SFY05，SFY13，SFY18，SFY22，SFY24，and SFY27）possessed stable moderate or higher PHS resistance.

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Identification and Analysis of Amylase Genes Related to Pre⁃harvest Sprouting Resistance in Wan 1329 Based on Transcriptome Sequencing

WANG Zhen, ZHANG Bin, SHI Lichao, LIU Rui, LI Jinxiu, ZHOU Ran, YANG Ling, ZHAO Qian, LI Jinbang

Journal of Henan Agricultural Sciences 2025, 54 (12): 32-39. DOI: 10.15933/j.cnki.1004-3268.2025.12.004

Abstract （818）

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Using Jimai 22 with high sensitivity to pre⁃harvest sprouting（PHS）as the control，the PHS resistance and α⁃amylase activities of the new white⁃grain wheat variety Wan 1329 and its parent Lianmai 2 were analyzed. During the critical period when α⁃amylase activity changed，transcriptome sequencing，KEGG and GO enrichment analysis were employed to identify differentially expressed amylase genes，and real⁃time fluorescence quantitative PCR（qRT⁃PCR）was used for verification their expression patterns.In addition，AlphaFold was employed to analyze the effects of coding sequence variations on protein structure. The results showed that both Wan 1329 and Lianmai 2 exhibited moderate resistance to PHS，while Wan 1329 had a lower relative germination index，indicating stronger resistance. At 24 h after seed imbibition，the α⁃amylase activities of Wan 1329 and Lianmai 2 were markedly lower than that of Jimai 22，and α⁃amylase activities at 20 h，24 h，and 72 h were highly positively correlated with the relative germination index. Transcriptome sequencing，KEGG and GO enrichment analysis revealed that two α⁃amylase genes located on the long arm of chromosome 6D， TraesCS6D02G313300 and TraesCS6D02G313500，were candidate α⁃amylase genes. The third exon of TraesCS6D02G313500 in Wan 1329 was elongated by 138 bp，extending into the 3´UTR region.qRT⁃PCR validation confirmed that the expression patterns of both genes were consistent with transcriptome analysis，and the cumulative relative expression level of TraesCS6D02G313500 in Wan 1329 was significantly lower than that in Lianmai 2.AlphaFold prediction suggested that this variation caused a C⁃terminal extension of α⁃amylase，resulting in decreased structural stability and increased conformational flexibility.Collectively，TraesCS6D02G313300 and TraesCS6D02G313500 are key genes related to PHS resistance in Wan 1329，among which the structural variation of TraesCS6D02G313500 may further enhance resistance to PHS.

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Screening and Breeding Utilization of Red‑Grain Wheat Germplasm Resistant to Pre‑harvest Sprouting

FU Mengsi, ZUO Zhixuan, XU Pei, YUE Ling, HU Xigui, HU Tiezhu, LI Gan, RU Zhengang, ZHAO Laibin

Journal of Henan Agricultural Sciences 2025, 54 (11): 30-39. DOI: 10.15933/j.cnki.1004-3268.2025.11.004

Abstract （712）

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In order to screen new germplasm with resistance to pre‑harvest sprouting（PHS），discover new genes with resistance to PHS，and evaluate the breeding utilization of red‑grain wheat with resistance to PHS in the Huanghuai wheat‑growing region，field germination percentages of 98 winter wheat varieties（lines）in Huanghuai wheat‑growing region，33 wheat varieties（lines）in southwest wheat region，and 310 hybrid F1 generations with the southwestern wheat materials as the first‑generation hybrid parents and materials from the Huanghuai wheat region as the backcross parents were analyzed. Five materials were randomly selected for indoor germination percentage verification，and genes related to PHS resistance were detected in 12 materials（4 red‑grain materials with resistance to PHS and 8 white‑grain materials with susceptibleness to PHS）.The results showed that the field germination percentages of 98 wheat varieties（lines）in Huanghuai wheat‑growing region and 33 wheat varieties（lines）in southwest wheat region were grouped into four categories. Twenty‑five materials with germination percentage ranging from 0 to 11% constituted the class Ⅳ，which were resistant to PHS，and most of them were red‑grain materials（68%）. The indoor germination percentage results showed the same trend with the germination percentage result in field.Among the 195 F₁ materials with red‑grain material as the first parents，114 F₁ materials with germination percentage of 0—16% were clustered in class Ⅳ（resistant to PHS），accounting for 93%，which was much higher than that of the offspring with white‑grain material as the first parents（7%），indicating that red‑grain material contributed most of the PHS resistance of the hybrid offspring，and using red‑grain material could significantly improve the PHS resistance. Among the 195 F1 materials，111 F1 materials were white‑grain materials，and 33 were resistant to PHS，indicating that the grain color and PHS resistance could be regulated. Breeding practice proved that red‑grain germplasm could be used to breed new white‑grain material with resistance to PHS. TaVp‑1B and TaSdr‑B1 genes were not detected in white‑grain and red‑grain materials，and all materials had the same Tamyb10‑A，Tamyb10‑B，Dorm‑1 and TaVp‑1A genotypes，indicating that these genes may not be the source of resistance to PHS in red‑grain materials. The red‑grain material 21B2 contained the allele of PM19a with resistance to PHS，and the red‑grain materials Chinese Spring，21B2 and 21B42 with resistance to PHS had Tamyb10‑D gene，indicating that genes PM19a and TaMyb10‑D may promote the resistance of red‑grain germplasm. At the same time，a red‑grain germplasm with resistance to PHS without TaMyb10‑D gene was screened，and white‑grain materials with resistance to PHS were obtained from the hybrids，indicating that it could be used as germplasm with resistance to PHS for breeding in Huanghuai wheat‑growing region.

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Effects of Addition Amounts，Treatment Durations and Pretreatment Durations of Different Chalcogens on Cadmium Absorption and Transport of Wheat Seedlings under Cadmium Stress

ZHOU Jinghang, WANG Zenghao, ZHANG Lei, ZHANG Xia, LIU Jiajia, HU Tiezhu, ZHANG Dazhong

Journal of Henan Agricultural Sciences 2026, 55 (6): 1-10. DOI: 10.15933/j.cnki.1004-3268.2026.06.001

Abstract （594）

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To explore the effects of chalcogens（sulfur，selenium and tellurium） on cadmium（Cd）absorption and transport of wheat seedlings，the effects of different types［Na₂SO₄（sulfate，SVI），Na₂SO₃（sulfite，SIV），Na₂SeO₄（selenate，SeVI），Na₂SeO₃（selenite，SeIV），and Na₂TeO₃（thioselenite，TeIV）］，addition amounts（600，1 200，2 400 μmol/L for SVI and SIV，and 5，15，30 μmol/L for SeVI，SeIV，and TeIV），treatment durations（2，6，12，24，48，96，168 h）and pretreatment durations（0，24，72，168 h）of chalcogens on Cd absorption kinetics，content and translocation factor of wheat seedlings were studied.The results showed that compared with Cd treatment alone（control），SVI，SeVI and SeIV had a relatively smaller impact on the Cd absorption rate and the maximum absorption rate（V_max）. However，SIV and TeIV had a greater impact on the Cd absorption rate and V_max，among which the 1 200 μmol/L SIV and 15 μmol/L TeIV treatments had the higher V_max，with 88.1% and 54.4% higher than the control，respectively.The 600 μmol/L SIV treatment had the highest Cd Michaelis constant（K_m），which was 39.7% higher than the control；while K_m of SeIV and TeIV treatments decreased. The addition of chalcogens could significantly reduce Cd contents of root and shoot.Among them，SeIV had the greatest impact on Cd content of root，Cd contents of roots of 5，15，and 30 μmol/L SeIV treatments decreased by 56.1%，61.2%，and 61.5% compared with the control，respectively. Compared with the control，the Cd translocation factor of 1 200 and 2 400 μmol/L SVI treatments significantly decreased by 2.4% and 14.0%，respectively.Chalcogens promoted Cd absorption of root when the treatment duration was ≤24 h，inhibited Cd absorption of root when the treatment duration was ≥48 h，and reduced Cd content of root by 34.9%（SVI）to 49.1%（SeIV）compared with the control at 168 hours. Chalcogens significantly decreased Cd content of shoot when the treatment duration was ≥96 h，the reducing effect of SeVI and TeIV with the treatment duration ≥48 h on the Cd content of shoot was more significant. Compared with the control，the 168 h treatment of SeVI and TeIV reduced Cd content of shoot by 48.4% and 50.7%，respectively.When the duration of chalcogen treatment was ≤96 h，the Cd translocation factor was significantly higher than or not significantly different from the control. When the duration of chalcogen treatment was 168 h，the Cd
translocation factor of SeVI and TeIV treatments significantly decreased compared with the control.Chalcogen pretreatment could reduce Cd contents of root and shoot. With the pretreatment time extension，the Cd contents of root and shoot under SIV treatment，the Cd content of shoot and Cd translocation factor under SVI treatment，and Cd translocation factor under TeIV treatment all showed decrease trend.At 168 h of pretreatment，Cd translocation factors of SVI and TeIV decreased by of 33.9% and 7.1% compared with the control，respectively. In conclusion，the effects of chalcogens on the Cd absorption and transport are influenced by type，addition amount，treatment duration and pretreatment duration.The 1 200，2 400 μmol/L SVI and 15 μmol/L TeIV reduce Cd translocation factor through enhancing the Cd fixation in roots. Treatment with chalcogens for more than 48 h obviously decreases Cd content of root，and more than 96 h significantly decreases Cd content of shoot. Chalcogens pretreatment can reduce Cd contents of root and shoot，and 168 h of SVI pretreatment has the lowest Cd translocation factor，which is 33.9% lower than the control.

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