Fusarium graminearum (Schwabe) (FG) is the principal cause of Fusarium head blight (FHB) disease of wheat. Deoxynivalenol (DON) is the most important mycotoxin produced by FG. Winter wheat is mainly grown in Eastern Canada. Our goal is development of wheat resistant to FHB, without yield and quality penalties. Conventional breeding, doubled haploid method, and marker-assisted selection are applied in the program, with combination of exotic and adapted sources of FHB resistance. In population with ‘Sumai 3’ as a source of FHB resistance, the breeding lines grouped in the 3B QTL class had the lowest FHB index, DON content and FDK level and did not have a significantly lower yield compared to the lines grouped in QTL classes 3A and 5A, or their combinations. Using adapted FHB sources, we detected QTL for FHB/DON on chromosomes 2D, 4B, 4D and 7A, in a population ‘Vienna’ x ‘25R47’. The plant height dwarfing alleles of Rht‐B1 and Rht‐D1 were associated with increased FHB index/DON level. The same QTL, except 7A, were identified in ‘Maxine x ‘FTHP Redeemer’ population. Recent genotyping in soft white population ‘Superior’ x ‘D8006W’ was performed using 90 K Infinium iSelect SNP array. FHB resistance QTL were detected on chromosomes 2D, 4B, 5A, and 7A across multiple environments, with resistance from both parents. Trait specific QTL were detected on chromosomes 1A (symptoms), 5D (FDK), 6B (FDK and DON), and 7D (DON). The plant height and days to anthesis QTL on chromosome 2D coincided with Ppd-D1 and were linked with FHB traits. The Eastern winter wheat genomic selection project (EWGS) is an effort aimed to harmonize breeding efforts across four public breeding programs via the development of common genomic tools for complex traits, such as FHB resistance. An analysis of allele frequency of three major FHB resistance QTLs (Fhb1, Fhb2, and Fhb5) in a 352 winter wheat breeding lines was performed. Fhb5 was the most common resistance allele (present in 61% of accessions), while Fhb1 and Fhb2 were rare (9% and 0.6%, respectively). Commercially grown wheat in Ontario is entered in the Performance Trial and tested for FHB resistance in the nurseries spray inoculated with FG. ‘Marker’, ‘UGRC Ring’, ‘UGRC C2-5’ and ‘UGRC Comet’ are soft red winter wheats developed by our breeding program (www.gocereals.ca). The cultivars had competitive yield in Eastern Canada, but their FHB resistance is moderately resistant or moderately susceptible.

Acknowledgements: Funding is provided by Canadian Wheat Research Coalition.