The systematic evaluation of barley accessions in the USDA-ARS National Small Grains Collection (NSGC) and other elite germplasm continued to be coordinated by National Small Grains Germplasm Research Facility (NSGGRF) staff at Aberdeen during 1995. Cooperative barley evaluations continued for reaction to Russian wheat aphid; barley stripe rust; spot and net blotch of barley; barley yellow dwarf virus; and barley stripe mosaic virus as well as evaluations of beta-glucan, protein, and oil content of NSGC barley accessions. The staff also provided assistance with research concerned with Fusarium head blight. Maintenance and evaluation of NSGC small grains germplasm, including quarantine entries, also continued at Maricopa, Arizona in 1995 under the supervision of S. Nieto. Specific Cooperative Agreements or within ARS Fund Transfers involving cooperative evaluations and related research for all small grains involve several University and ARS projects in at least 15 states.
Data obtained from evaluations of NSGC germplasm are entered in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) system by the NSGGRF staff in cooperation with the ARS National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Data currently available on GRIN for barley are summarized in Table 1.
Evaluation of NSGC barley germplasm for Russian Wheat Aphid (RWA) reaction at the ARS Plant Science Research Laboratory in Stillwater, Oklahoma, involving James A. Webster, David R. Porter, and D.W. Mornhinweg, continued in 1995 with virtually the entire barley collection being evaluated. Details concerning these evaluations have been published by the Stillwater staff. Data for over 24,000 barley accessions have been entered in the GRIN system.
An important barley germplasm evaluation effort concerned with barley stripe rust continued in 1995 in cooperation with Dr. William M. Brown, Jr., Vidal Velasco, and Dr. Joseph P. Hill, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, Colorado under the terms of a Specific Cooperative Agreement between Colorado State University and ARS, established in 1990. The agreement is currently in the process of being renewed. The cooperative 1994-95 Barley Stripe Rust Evaluation Nursery in Cochabamba, Bolivia evaluated the reaction of over 5,000 barleys to Puccinia striiformis, including 1,571 selections developed by ARS (Aberdeen, Idaho), Univ. of California-Davis, North Dakota State Univ., Oregon State Univ., Utah State Univ., Washington State Univ., Adolph Coors, Busch Agricultural Resources, Plant Breeders 1, and Western Plant Breeders (Group I); 288 National Small Grains Collection (NSGC) accessions or elite germplasm with "resistant" ratings in previous Cochabamba nurseries (Group II); and 3,172 NSGC accessions not previously evaluated (Group III). 230 ARS selections included in Group I were also tested in the San Luis Valley of Colorado. The elite series was also evaluated in Germany, Colorado, Mexico, and Texas. All field trials were conducted with endemic natural inoculum. Inoculum levels in Bolivia, Colorado, and Mexico were excellent and Texas was very low. In Bolivia, 27.2% of the cooperators selections (Group I), 84.5% of the elite series (Group II), and 9.5% of the NSGC accessions (Group III) were rated resistant. Data for selected two-rowed spring barleys evaluated at Cochabamba, the San Luis Valley, Colorado, and Toluca, Mexico are summarized in Tables 2 and 3.
Table 1. Descriptors with data on the Germplasm Resources Information Network
(GRIN)*.
| Descriptor | Testing Locations(s) | No. Evaluated |
| Aleurone Color | Aberdeen, ID; Mesa Maricopa, AZ | 6916 |
| Awn Deciduousness | Aberdeen, ID; Mesa,Maricopa, AZ | 6864 |
| Awn Roughness | Aberdeen, ID; Mesa, Maricopa, AZ | 4601 |
| Awn Type | Aberdeen, ID; Mesa, Maricopa, AZ | 12130 |
| Beta Glucan | Madison, WI | 5518 |
| BSMV-Free | Aberdeen, ID; Fargon ND | 14510 |
| BYDV | Davis, CA | 2771 |
| BYDV* | Urbana, IL | 961 |
| Chromosome Number | Columbia, MO | 686 |
| Growth Habit | Aberdeen, ID | 23758 |
| Heading Date | Aberdeen, ID | 8391 |
| Hull Cover | Aberdeen, ID | 15395 |
| Kernel Plumpness | Aberdeen, ID | 6908 |
| Kernel Weight | Aberdeen, ID | 6207 |
| Leaf Rust-Seedling | Fargo, Langdon, ND | 2696 |
| Lemma Color | Aberdeen, ID | 6319 |
| Lodging | Aberdeen, ID; Mesa, Maricopa, AZ | 6937 |
| Neck Breakage | Aberdeen, ID; Mesa, Maricopa, AZ | 4791 |
| Net Blotch | Fargo, ND | 12856 |
| Plant Height | Aberdeen, ID; Mesa, Maricopa, AZ | 8306 |
| Protein | Madison, WI | 5517 |
| Rachilla Hair Length | Aberdeen, ID | 6355 |
| Russian Wheat Aphid | Stillwater, OK | 24451 |
| RWA Leaf Rolling | Stillwater, OK | 23346 |
| Scald | Langdon, ND | 1186 |
| Shattering | Aberdeen, ID; Mesa, Maricopa, AZ | 4797 |
| Spike Angle | Aberdeen, ID; Mesa, Maricopa, AZ | 6938 |
| Spike Row Number | Aberdeen, ID; Mesa, Maricopa, AZ | 19492 |
| Spot Blotch | Fargo, ND | 16879 |
| Straw Breakage | Aberdeen, ID; Mesa, Maricopa, AZ | 4791 |
| Stripe Rust | Cochabamba, Bolivia | 20220 |
| Test Weight | Aberdeen, ID | 6145 |
| Yield | Aberdeen, ID | 6932 |
* Revised March 1996.
Table 2. Preliminary summary of stripe rust reaction data for selected two-rowed spring
barleys grown at Cochabamba, Bolivia, 1990-91 to 1994-95*.
| Stripe Rust Reaction | |||||
| Entry | 1990-91 | 1991-92 | 1992-93 | 1993-94 | 1994-95 |
| Acclaim | 0 | TMR | 1R | 5MS | 5MS, 10MS |
| Ark Royal | -- | 1MR | 20MS | 20MS | 60S |
| Baronesse | -- | 100S | 90S | -- | 80S |
| Bowman | 5S | 80S, 100S, 100S | 1MS | 100S | 90S |
| B1202 | 1MS | 30S | 20MS | 100S, 100S | 90S |
| Crystal | 5MS, 5S | 20S | 30S | 81S+ | 70S |
| Galant | 1R | 10S | 10MS | 40S | 60S |
| Harrington | 1S | 20S | 30S | 100S | 70S |
| Klages | 5MS, 1S, 10MS | 40S | 30S | 100S | 90S |
| Maris Mink | -- | 5MR | 20MS | 20MS | 40S |
| Menuet | 10S | 5MR | 20MS | -- | -- |
| Shyri | -- | -- | -- | 0 | TMR |
| Spirit | 1R | TMR | 20MS | 30S | 20MS |
| Triumph | 5MS | 5MR, 30S, 30MS/40S | 30S | -- | 30S |
| 78ab10274 | 1R | 5MR | 5MS | 60S | 5MS, 10MS, 30S |
* Partially funded by Agricultural Research Service/Colorado State University Specific Cooperative Agreement 58-5366-0-002 (International Field Testing of Barley Germplasm for Resistance to Race 24 of Barley Stripe Rust). Multiple readings occur for a few entries. Special thanks to Dr. William M. Brown, Jr., Vidal Velasco, and Dr. Joseph P. Hill, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, Colorado for providing the barley stripe rust reaction data from Cochabamba, Bolivia, included in this summary.
+ Average of eight entries with a range of 50S to 100S.
Table 3. Preliminary summary of stripe rust reaction data for selected two-rowed and six-
rowed spring barleys grown in the San Luis Valley, Colorado and Toluca, Mexico, 1995*.
| Stripe Rust Reaction | |||
| Entry | San Luis Valley (ARS) | San Luis Valley | Toluca |
| Acclaim | TMR | 0, 0 | 0, 0 |
| Ark Royal | -- | 0 | 5MS |
| Baronesse | 20S | 40S | 10S |
| Bowman | -- | 60S | 20S |
| B1202 | -- | 40S | 30S |
| Crest | -- | 20S | 10MS |
| Crystal | 30S, 40S | 30S, 30S | 30S, 10S |
| Galant | -- | 5MS | 0 |
| Harrington | 40S, 20S, 30S | 40S | 20S |
| Klages | -- | TMR | 40S |
| Maris Mink | -- | 0 | 0 |
| Norbert | -- | 60S | 20S |
| Shyri | -- | 0, 0 | TR, 0 |
| Spirit | -- | TMS | 0 |
| Triumph | -- | TMS | 0 |
| Vanguard | -- | 20S | 60S |
| 78Ab10274 | 0, TMR, 0 | 0, TR, 5MS | 0, 0, 0 |
| Colter+ | -- | 90S | 80S |
| Morex+ | 30S | 90S | 30S |
| Russell+ | 100S, 90S | 80S, 90S | 80S, 80S |
* Partially funded by Agricultural Research Service/Colorado State University Specific Cooperative Agreement 58-5366-0-002 (International Field Testing of Barley Germplasm for Resistance to Race 24 of Barley Stripe Rust). Multiple readings occur for a few entries. Special thanks to Dr. William M. Brown, Jr., Vidal Velasco, and Dr. Joseph P. Hill, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, Colorado for providing the barley stripe rust reaction data from Cochabamba, Bolivia and Colorado included in this summary.
+ Six-rowed barley variety.
Several NSGC accessions and other elite barley germplasm have been identified and reported with putative resistance or tolerance to barley stripe rust in one or more years of testing for barley stripe rust reaction in Cochabamba, Bolivia. A number of barley varieties grown commercially in Idaho and the United States appear to be susceptible to new races of barley stripe rust that occurred in Idaho, especially in 1993 and 1995. An apparently new barley stripe rust was initially confirmed in the major barley production areas of southeastern Idaho by the USDA Cereal Rust Laboratory, St. Paul, Minnesota in 1993. Barley stripe rust was common at Aberdeen in 1993, observed only in a one plot of spring-planted winter barley late in the season at Aberdeen in 1994, but again prominent at Aberdeen in 1995, especially in the barley head rows.
Systematic Barley Stripe Mosaic Virus (BSMV) evaluations of NSGC barley accessions have been cooperatively conducted by ARS personnel at Aberdeen, Idaho and Fargo, North Dakota for several years. Through 1986, evaluations were based on visual examinations of plants growing in the field at Aberdeen by Dr. Roland Timian. Serological tests (ELISA) for BSMV were initiated in 1987 under the supervision of Dr. Timian. Dr. Michael Edwards, USDA-ARS, North Dakota State University, Fargo, has conducted the ELISA tests since Dr. Timian's retirement. Leaf tissue samples collected from individual plants at Aberdeen have been serologically evaluated at Fargo in each of the last several years. Visual examinations supplemented the serological tests in the first years the ELISA tests were employed. Currently 500 NSGC accessions are being evaluated and harvested for serological tests for BSMV at Maricopa, Arizona, for a total exceeding 17,500 accessions during the past nine years.
Cooperative evaluation of NSGC barley germplasm for beta-glucan, protein, and oil content was initiated in 1992 in cooperation with David M. Peterson and the staff of the ARS Cereal Crops Research Unit, Madison, Wisconsin. Beta-glucan and protein evaluation data have been entered in GRIN for over 5,500 barley accessions, and additional accessions are currently being evaluated for beta-glucan, protein, and oil content.
Evaluations similar to those described above are currently underway for other major NSGC components, including wheat, oats, rice, and triticale, at Aberdeen and a number of other locations across the United States. Important cooperative projects, especially involving barley, include the "Evaluation of Barley Germplasm for Net Blotch, Spot Blotch, and Rust Diseases" (North Dakota State University, Fargo - B.J. Steffenson) and "Field Evaluation of Barley Germplasm for Reaction to Barley Stripe Rust" (Proposed - Colorado State University, Fort Collins - W.M. Brown, Jr.); and "Evaluation of Small Grains Germplasm, Including West Asian Triticum, for BYD and other Characters" (University of California, Davis - C.O. Qualset).
* The authors wish to acknowledge the important contributions of the NSGGRF staff in this effort, with thanks to Glenda B. Rutger, John F. Connett, Santos Nieto, Dave E. Burrup, Kathy E. Burrup, Fawn R. Buffi, Evalyne McLean, Judy Bradley, Carol S. Truman, Kay B. Calzada, Vicki Gamble, and Ying Wu. Special thanks again to Dr. William M. Brown, Jr., Vidal Velasco, and Dr. Joseph P. Hill, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, Colorado for providing the barley stripe rust reaction data from Cochabamba, Bolivia, included in this report.
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