Development of hard red winter wheat ‘Scab Stryker’ for adoption in areas of Oklahoma prone to Fusarium head blight

Abstract ‘Scab Stryker’ (Reg. no. PI 706594, PI CV‐1216) hard red winter (HRW) wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) was developed and released by the Oklahoma State University wheat improvement program in 2024. With the experimental designation OK16103083, Scab Stryker was selected from the backcross ‘Garrison’*3/WesleyFhb1‐106. Our objectives herein are to demonstrate its high level of Fusarium head blight (FHB; caused by Fusarium graminearum Schwabe) resistance in HRW wheat in artificially inoculated environments and identify strengths and weaknesses relevant to US Great Plains wheat use. Before release, Scab Stryker was intermittently tested in Oklahoma yield trials for 4 years during the period 2018–2023. It was evaluated during 2020–2023 in Manhattan, KS, in the hard winter wheat FHB nursery of the US Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative. Scab Stryker is intermediate among contemporary HRW cultivars for grain yield and volume weight but has an exceptionally high level of FHB resistance. Scab Stryker is the only HRW cultivar currently deployed for Oklahoma and surrounding areas harboring the resistance gene Fhb1 . Scab Stryker has other positive characteristics including a high inclination to circumvent late‐winter freeze events, resistance to leaf spotting diseases, high tolerance to acidic soils, and an acceptable wheat protein level. Potential weaknesses of Scab Stryker include susceptibility to Hessian fly ( Mayetiola destructor Say), leaf rust (caused by Puccinia triticina Eriks.), and stripe rust (caused by Puccinia striiformis Westend. f. sp. tritici Eriks.), and a bread baking quality profile that may underdeliver for some industry expectations, particularly mixing time.