Overall, the team generated promising solid-stemmed wheat lines (more than 500), based on a novel genetic source of solidness from intergeneric origin. As TWG has adapted through coevolution to the most important WSS biotype in Canada, we expect that our lines have greater protection against local WSS infestations. To confirm the competitiveness in agronomic performance of our lines when compared to top wheat cultivars, the researchers will perform an extensive agronomic characterization under field conditions. These results will allow the selection of wheat lines with the potential to be released as new CWRS cultivars.
Read MoreMultiple genome sequences of wheat, including two Canadian cultivars, have emerged, providing an opportunity to develop genomic strategies that are tailored to Canadian wheat breeding programs. However, a significant challenge exists to properly deploy these markers and genome sequence information to improve wheat cultivar development in Canada. The goal of this research was to develop strategies to translate these upstream genomic technologies into breeding applications with the aim to support continued improvement of wheat cultivars adapted to western Canadian conditions.
Read MoreGluten strength is a critical asset of CWRS wheat and is the foundation for the longstanding success of the CWRS wheat brand. Today's CWRS wheat as a class, has stronger gluten than in the past, but still retains good dough extensibility and mixing tolerance for processing flexibility. Consistency of gluten strength in milling grades of CWRS wheat is the expectation of customers. However, in the past decade, questions have been raised in the industry about excessively variable or even deficient gluten strength of CWRS wheat shipments. This variability results from genetic and environmental factors. Genetic variation of gluten strength is constrained by a robust variety registration system. However, the vast crop-growing region in the Prairie provinces experiences an enormous range of varying weather and biotic pressures which in turn leads to varying gluten strength.
Read MoreDurum wheat is an economically important crop and the source of semolina for the production of pasta, couscous, and various types of baked products. Its market value is largely determined by the end-use quality traits. However, quality tests are labour and cost-intensive and most times, large quantities of samples are needed. Therefore, practising earlier selection on quality traits on a large scale within the breeding program is a challenge. The advent of advanced genetic and genomic approaches provided a feasible approach to predict quality and make a selection on such a large scale at earlier generations and ultimately release variety with improved wheat quality.
Read MorePlant diseases are responsible for at least 10% of yield losses in global food production. Incidence and severity of two important cereal crop diseases, Fusarium head blight (FHB) and tan spot are increasing with the impacts of climate change. FHB is responsible for mycotoxin contamination of grains and both diseases lead to significant yield damage. It was recently determined that barley, which was thought to be inherently resistant to tan spot, is susceptible to a race of the pathogen that has been identified in Canada.
Read MoreBreeding spring wheat varieties carrying semi-dwarfing genes is of interest, as these varieties experience less lodging, have a higher harvest index (HI), and in some cases higher grain yield and quality. The Rht18 semi-dwarf gene was back-crossed into the CWRS variety “CDC Utmost” from durum wheat and the resulting Near Isogenic Lines (NILs) were evaluated over a period of four years for potential linkage drag effects on a number of agronomic and quality traits. The short NILs were, on average, 15 cm shorter than their tall counterparts. The three stem internodes that were measured in this study, were all shorter in the short NILs.
Read MoreThis project demonstrated both the power and limitations of an allele mining strategy for crop improvement. The identification of null alleles was straightforward, however, the identification of mutations that specifically block mRNA cleavage was only possible in one of the three genomes.
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