Saturated Genetic Mapping of Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus Resistance Gene Wsm2 in Wheat

In the U.S. Great Plains and other parts of the world, Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV) disease is one of the most important biotic stresses affecting wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) productivity. Breeding for wheat cultivars with resistance provides a socioeconomic and environmentally sustainable approach for combating WSMV. The use of markers as a proxy for quantitative and qualitative traits is widely applied in crop improvement programs. Among the available markers, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are routinely used in plant breeding programs to distinguish potentially superior genotypes with genetic merit for traits of interest. In this study, we used the 90K Illumina Infinium iSelect SNP assay to tag the Wsm2 gene in a set of 152 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from the cross between CO960293–2 and TAM 111. The RILs were evaluated twice for WSMV resistance in the growth chambers. A dense linkage map with coverage of 2079.5 cM was constructed. The Wsm2 gene was mapped on chromosome 3BS. A total of eight SNPs flanking Wsm2 were mapped within 1.0 cM. These tightly linked SNPs could be useful for marker‐assisted selection for WSMV resistance.