ABSTRACT. Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) identifi ed in the early part of the twentieth century in South America, remained relatively irregular in appearance till the 1980s. However, the early epidemics recorded in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay must have been severe enough to wipe out production, thereby forcing wheat breeders to look for sources of resistance among the local varieties and/or landraces that survived. It is these old landraces such as Barletta or Lin Calel and Americano selections from La Plata River basin as well as Polyssu and Alfredo Chaves lines from Brazil that formed the initial base of subsequent commercial varieties with moderate resistance to FHB. While the genetic basis of such locally selected resistance has not been researched, it received a further boost from the introduction of two sister lines from Italy, Ardito and Mentana, which led to development of world famous Frontana and other varieties. Both sister lines have 50 % of contribution from a Japanese variety Akagomoughi used as male parent in the cross. Since the 1970s, the Japanese and Chinese germplasm, fi rstly NobeokaBozu, Nyu Bay and Pekin 8 distributed from Brazil and lately Sumai#3, Catbird and many others distributed by International Wheat and Maize Improvement Center, CIMMYT, in the form of international nurseries have become the backbone of the FHB resistance in the region. Recently, the national wheat breeding programs are exploring the role of synthetic wheats and other alien species to widen the base of FHB resistance and also combine it with additional sources for low mycotoxin generation to safeguard the human and animal health. © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013. All rights are reserved.