Fusarium head blight (FHB) causes yield reduction, quality deterioration, and mycotoxin contamination in wheat, highlighting the need for resistant wheat varieties. In this study, we evaluated FHB resistance genes and infection rates in 44 domestic wheat varieties. Among them, 42 had the Type I resistance gene Fhb4, 37 had Fhb5, and 35 possessed both. For Type II resistance, 14 had Fhb1, 11 had Fhb2, and five had both. Twenty cultivars had both type I and type II resistance genes, and among them, Chungkye, Dahong, Gobun, Namhae, and Ol had all of the Fhb1, Fhb2, Fhb4, and Fhb5 genes. The average infection rate over three years was 42.6% in cases with both Type I and Type II resistance genes and 44.3% in cases without Type II resistance genes. The infection rate was very high in 2020 and very low in 2021, complicating the analysis of the three-year average. However, when the infection rate was evenly distributed in 2019, there was a tendency for increased resistance among the varieties carrying Type II resistance genes. This suggested that external factors may influence infection rates, emphasizing the need for a precise evaluation system suitable for selecting additional resistance genes. In addition, it is necessary to develop resistant varieties suited to the domestic environment through additional resistance gene selection and integration of resistance genes. This study contributes to understanding FHB resistance genes in domestic wheat varieties and developing resistant domestic wheat varieties.

To improve the seed purity management system of Korean wheat cultivars, 50 Korean wheat cultivars were subjected to chemical assays for grain color, genotyping of grain weight-related genes, and grain image analysis. The tested cultivars were primarily classified by NaOH and ninhydrin tests as white (26%) and red (74%) cultivars, as well as high PPO activity (48%), and low PPO activity (52%) cultivars, respectively. The allelic variations of Tamyb10 gene revealed Tamyb-A1a/Tamyb-B1a/Tamyb-D1a as the major allelic combination in white wheat and five different Tamyb10 genotypes (i.e., aba, abb, baa, bba, and bbb) in red wheat. Those cultivars with high PPO activity possessed the Ppo-A1a/Ppo-B1b/Ppo-D1b genotype, while those with low PPO activity possessed the Ppo-A1b/Ppo-B1a/Ppo-D1a genotype. In the grain image analysis, long grain cultivars displayed increased grain width, circularity, and area. Based on cluster analysis of grain traits, the Korean wheat cultivars were classified into two groups - 1) large red grain cultivars released before 2000, and 2) small red grain cultivars and white wheat cultivars released after 2000. Further research is required to determine the effects of grain filling conditions on the grain characteristics of Korean wheat cultivars and to develop efficient and reliable molecular markers for an improved seed purity management system.

The regeneration rate of plantlets cultivated via tissue culture is an important factor for wheat transformation. Similar to other monocotyledons, the most efficient tissue culture materials for wheat are immature embryos. However, stable year-round production of immature embryos is not possible in the field where various stress factors co-exist. In this study, we investigated the generation and subsequent plantlet incident rates of callus induced from immature embryos obtained from different sowing times in 2020 and compared these among wheat cultivars. We found that the rates of regeneration and plantlet incidence obtained using immature embryos of the Ariheuk cultivar were higher than those of other domestic cultivars, and that the tissue culture efficiency was similar to that of Bobwhite, which has been established as a cultivar with excellent transformation efficiency. Furthermore, the Baekkang cultivar showed high tissue culture efficiency only when sown from early to mid-March, whereas Keumkang showed higher tissue cultivation efficiency only by sowing in mid- and late February. Among the five cultivars assessed in this study, Jopum showed the lowest tissue culture efficiency. It is anticipated that the findings of this study will contribute to enhancing the transformation efficiency of domestic wheat varieties.