ARS, Cooperators Discover Wheat Gene with Resistance to Stripe Rust
|
 |
Category: AgricultureType: News
Source: USDA Agriculture Research Service
Date: Thursday, February 19th, 2009
An international team of researchers that includes an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) expert on wheat biotechnology has discovered a gene that will make bread wheat capable of resisting stripe rust, a fungus that causes crop losses in many states.
Scientists transferred a resistant gene, known as Yr36, from a race of wild wheat into a handful of domesticated pasta and bread wheat varieties. The wild wheat was collected in Israel, a part of the Fertile Crescent where ancient varieties of wheat have grown for centuries, according to Ann Blechl, a geneticist at the ARS Western Regional Research Center in Albany, California
The research was published today in the journal Science by a team that, in addition to Blechl, includes Xianming Chen, an ARS plant pathologist in Pullman, Wash., and researchers from the University of California-Davis and the University of Haifa in Israel. Publication of the gene sequence should give breeders the ability to use sequence-based DNA markers to incorporate resistance into new wheat varieties.
The researchers used a detailed map of a region of one wheat chromosome to isolate a candidate gene sequence. Blechl conducted the team's genetic transformation experiments, transferring the candidate sequence into a susceptible bread wheat variety. Subsequent tests showed the transformed plants were resistant to at least 8 races of stripe rust.
Pasta, bread and other foods made with wheat account for about 20 percent of the calories consumed worldwide. But wheat producers have been battling stripe rust in the Pacific Northwest since the 1950s, according to Chen. Severe outbreaks occurred in the South and Midwest in 2000, and 3 years later the disease wiped out 25 percent of the wheat crop in California.
Caused by the fungus Puccinia striiformis, stripe rust is spread by the wind and is most likely to ruin crops in mild winters, wet springs and wet summers.
The fungus evolves rapidly, developing new races that overcome various race-specific seedling resistances. While it provides only partial resistance to adult plants at high temperatures, Yr36 is useful because it protects against all known strains of stripe rust, making it an effective tool.
ARS is the principal intramural scientific research agency of the U.S.D.A..
There are currently no comments for this story. Be the first to
add a comment!
Click here to add a comment about this story.
U.S.D.A. Research Agency, Israeli Agricultural Ministry Sign Arrangement on Cooperative Research
... . Under the five-year agreement, scientists with ARS and MOARD will conduct cooperative research focusing on key ... ," said ARS Administrator Edward B. Knipling . "This arrangement will facilitate partnerships between scientists in the U.S. and Israel and ...
ARS Delivers 1st Hard Winter Wheat Varieties for Eastern U.S. Production
... , are typically grown in the eastern United States. Hard wheats, on the other hand, are best suited for making bread. Hard wheat has not traditionally been a successfully grown crop in the eastern states because the ...
New Crop Model Should Speed Resistance to Wheat Diseases
... appear in the United States, overcoming the resistance that breeders build and re-build continually into wheat varieties. His work attracted the attention of John Vogel , the 1st scientist to see the potential of ...
Johanns Declares Top USDA-ARS Scientists for 2005
... the characterization and manipulation of genes and gene complexes from wild species into wheat to enhance world ... plant geneticist, ARS Cereal Crops Research Unit , Fargo, N.D., for outstanding contributions to advance the understanding of the wheat genome ...
Hessian Fly-Resistant Wheat Germplasm Accessible
... for breeding commercial wheat varieties resistant to the Hessian fly, Agricultural Research Service ( ARS ) scientists report. ... Aegilops tauschii , a wild wheat species that Joppa crossed with the durum wheat cultivar Langdon. Resistant varieties alone ...
Agricultural Research Service Hosts Fruit Fly Conference
... , Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Georgia, Greece, Israel, Italy, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain, ... medflies were to become established in the continental United States. Category: Agriculture Type: News Source: ...
Veneman Declares Top ARS Scientists for 2003
... of disease control, and her international activities in providing leadership to young scientists. Welch is being recognized for his ... agencies and the food industry. Camille M. Steber, Wheat Genetics, Quality, Physiology and Disease Research Unit ...
Modified Soybeans May Be Less Allergenic
Using biotechnology, researchers shut off the gene for a crucial protein that makes soybean seeds so allergenic to ... of adults suffer food allergies. Soybeans, milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, wheat and shellfish cause 90-plus percent of food allergic ...
Wheat Texture is Determined by Two Proteins
... for one of wheat's most important qualities: texture, known as hardness or softness. Bakers use hard wheats to make bread and soft wheats for cookies and cakes. Scientists have known since the 1970's that one gene ...
Modern Wheat Draws Mildew Resistance from the Wild
... -1, 2, and 3--that are accessible to scientists and plant breeders seeking to boost the disease resistance of commercial wheat lines. In ... ARS and the Wheat Genetic Resource Center at Kansas State University to enhance resistance." The wild varieties came to ...
