Genomic prediction for cold tolerance and Fusarium head blight (FHB) resistance in winter durum germplasm development for Western Canada

Term:  3 years, beginning in 2021

Status: Ongoing

Funding Amount: $72,525

Lead Researcher(s): Dr. Raja Ragupathy (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge)

Funding Partners: Western Grains Research Foundation

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Project Description

Plant breeding enhances genetic gain for traits and delivers varieties. Traits such as winter hardiness and FHB resistance are controlled by hundreds of loci. Hence, DNA-marker-assisted selection has been shown to be ineffective for these quantitative traits. Genomic selection will add value by capturing the effects of hundreds of loci.

In this project, we are proposing to develop state-of-the-art genomic prediction models for selecting winter hardiness and FHB resistance in winter durum. Over the past five years, Lethbridge Research and Development Centre (LRDC) has acquired diverse sources of germplasm and started a germplasm enhancement program with the goal of releasing winter durum cultivars to farmers in Alberta and Western Canada. Similarly, FHB resistance is a priority trait of all Canadian wheat breeding programs. This project aims to genotype the germplasm for genome-wide markers and phenotype the same lines at multi-locations. The project will take place over three years. Several genomic prediction models will be compared to generate genome estimated breeding values (GEBVs) and make prediction accuracies to evaluate the correlation between GEBVs and true breeding values. Upon completion of the project, desirable germplasm combining improved winter hardiness and FHB resistance, or cross derivatives suitable for yield testing will be available for winter durum. The resultant genomic prediction methods will also be useful for future spring wheat breeding across Canada.