Development of SNP assays for hessian fly response genes, Hfr-1 and Hfr-2, for marker-assisted selection in wheat breeding.

Background: The Hessian fly response genes, Hfr-1 and Hfr-2, have been reported to be significantly induced in a Hessian fly attack. Nothing is known about the allelic variants of these two genes in susceptible (S) and resistant (R) wheat cultivars.

Results: Basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) analysis of Hessian fly response genes have identified three alleles of Hessian fly response gene 1 (Hfr-1) on chromosome 4AL and 7DS, and 10 alleles of Hessian fly response gene 2 (Hfr-2) on chromosome 2BS, 2DL, 4BS, 4BL, 5AL and 5BL.