Genetic Resources Information Package for Wheat
- Phase I (GRIP I)
M.C. Mackay, AWCC, Tamworth, NSW, Australia; B. Skovman* and P.N. Fox, CIMMYT, Mexico; and
S.P. Martynov, RAAS, Tver, Russia.
Introduction.
The Genetic Resources Information Package (GRIP I) for wheat
covers data on wheat, related species, and triticale. The dataset
includes information on named wheat cultivars, breeding lines,
and genetic stocks and gives species, name, abbreviation, synonym,
pedigree, selection history, origin, year of release, genotype
status, and growth habit. Also included are the accession numbers
for major genebanks and unique cross and selection identifiers
generated by the International Wheat Information System. It is
genotype-based in that each record represents information obtained
for a cultivar, a breeding line, a genetic stock, or a land variety.
The dataset contains some 80,000 records of which about 50,000
have pedigrees. GRIP I includes data previously collected or published
by others, along with that obtained from colleagues around the
globe. References to sources of information are included in individual
records.
The GRIP I dataset was developed as
a resource for improving efficiency in utilizing wheat and triticale
genetic resources. This is achieved by linking germplasm with
information in a single resource, thus assisting researchers in
selecting or locating specific genetic resources through associated
information.
Availability.
The GRIP I dataset will be distributed by CIMMYT during 1995.
A run-time application developed in FoxPro for MS DOS (no licensing
fees will have to be paid), provides a user-friendly environment
in which to query the dataset and locate information for specific
genotypes. No additional software is required; however, the data
files are in FoxPro (.dbf) format and can be manipulated with
software that utilizes this format.
The run-time application will be distributed
as a self-extracting, compressed file on five or six high-density,
3.5 inch, floppy disks. It installs onto a hard disk, where it
requires approximately 50 megabytes of free disk space. The run-time
application cannot be used from a floppy disk. It also will be
included on a Plant Genome Database CD ROM and become available
on the GrainGenes Gopher through the Internet in 1995.
Standardization.
In collating information from many sources, standard nomenclature
for the various data fields is necessary to avoid errors, duplication,
and confusion. We encourage researchers to adopt nomenclature
from GRIP I, where possible, to assist ongoing collation of this
type of information. Full details of the nomenclature are provided
with the run-time dataset, and comments for improvements are always
welcome.
GRIP I is the first step. We plan
to add characterization data to the GRIP I dataset by mid 1996,
and CIMMYT has agreed to maintain the database. The GRIP I dataset
is a spin-off of the International Wheat Information System that
also will include evaluation data. The success of this objective
will depend heavily on feedback and information supplied by researchers.
The authors urge users to report corrections and to contribute
new data either as hard copy or, preferably, via the electronic
form supplied with the package. All such data should be sent
to Bent Skovmand at CIMMYT.
Acknowledgments.
The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research
(ACIAR) funded the GRIP I dataset collation and distribution.
The Australian Department of Industry, Technology and Regional
Development, Canberra, supported one of the author's
(S.P. Martynov) work on the GRIP I dataset in Australia for 4
months.
We thank the numerous wheat researchers
who contributed to the GRIP I dataset. All are acknowledged in
the documentation accompanying the GRIP I dataset.
* Corresponding author: Dr. Bent Skovmand, Head, Wheat Germplasm Bank,
CIMMYT, Lisboa 27, Apdo. Postal 6-641, CP 06600 Mexico, D.F., MEXICO.
FAX: 52(5)726-7559. E-mail: bskovmand@alphac.cimmyt.mx
PRIVATE COMPANIES
AGRIPRO SEEDS, INC.
Delta soft red winter wheat research.
Barton Fogleman and Chris Grimes. Jonesboro,
AR, USA.
It was another wacky weather year (they
all are). Summer crops were planted late because of the wet
spring. A cooler than normal summer delayed the development of
these crops. This resulted in late harvesting of summer crops
that delayed wheat plantings. The cooler and wetter than normal
fall and later wheat plantings led to poor germination and emergence
in many wheat fields. This situation was not improved by one
of the coldest Novembers on record, and 10-18
cm of rain, sleet, and snow were spread over the month. Overall,
the winter was wet and very cool, but not harshly cold. This
pattern continued through early spring. Wheat fields that emerged
and established a stand began to look pretty good by late spring.
Drier than normal April and May turned a questionable wheat crop
into an excellent overall crop by suppressing disease development
in the critical booting, heading, flowering, and grain fill stages.
This drier period was especially beneficial, because maturity
was delayed by the cool spring (maturity was similar to that in
1993). The rains returned in early June, causing harvest delays.
It also seemed to be a year in which even variations in tillage
depth made differences in wheat maturity. Our border wheat variety
at Jonesboro fluctuated 3-4
days in heading every 10 meters or so.
There was very little disease pressure because of the dry late spring. Wheat spindle streak mosaic virus showed up late at Sikeston, MO, and Dyer, TN, and was noted. A Septoria tritici note was taken at Ulm, AR, in the rice-rotation plots, and some late leaf rust was noted. The most rust pressure was in the February planted nurseries at Marion, AR. This provided a seedling leaf rust note for most wheat lines, because many of them did not vernalize.
AGRIPRO SHILOH (89M-4417A)
(Ck833 / Becker) is being
released. This variety has consistently produced superior yields
in our own yield trials (2- and 3-year average yield leader for
Dyer, TN; Sikeston, MO; and Jonesboro). It also finished second
overall in the 1994 standard management trials at the University
of Arkansas. Shiloh is adapted to the upper Midsouth and lower
Midwest. Shiloh has superior resistance to soilborne mosaic virus
and leaf rust.
Midwest soft red winter wheat research.
Koy E. Miskin, Curtis Beazer, Eugene
Glover, and Dayna Scruggs. Brookston, IN, USA.
The 1993-94
planting season was moist to wet in the Illinois and Indiana
areas. Ohio was quite dry at this time. October provided adequate
moisture at all locations. November and December were quite dry
but with above normal temperatures. Then, extreme cold weather
arrived in January, with about 10 days below zero degrees and
a record low of -27 F.
However, the snow cover at most locations protected the wheat
considerably. February was just slightly below normal in temperature
and again, during the colder temperatures, we did have snow cover.
March was near normal with adequate moisture in Illinois and
Indiana. Ohio was beginning to dry. April had mostly above
normal temperature, with adequate moisture in Illinois and Indiana,
but western Indiana and Ohio were continuing to dry. May had
normal temperatures with adequate moisture in Illinois and Indiana,
Ohio was becoming quite dry. In the first week of May, we had
a freeze that resulted in quite a bit of sterility in hybrid yield
plots and some early maturing varieties. May and June were dry
to very dry in western Indiana and most of Ohio, which caused
yield reductions. Rains began at harvest, and it was quite wet
during the harvest season. However, preharvest sprouting was
not observed. Temperatures in June and July were normal and not
excessively warm. Helena Chemical Company purchased Agripro,
and the current official name is Agripro Seeds, Inc.
AGRIPRO CLEMENS
(89I-4580) (Pike / Coker 833) is being released. Agripro
Clemens is an awnless, full-season maturing variety with
test weight approximately 1 1/2 lbs heavier than that of Cardinal.
It has exceptionally good milling quality and very good baking
quality. Agripro Clemens has good resistance to septoria, leaf
rust, stem rust, and mildew with moderate resistance to Rhizoctonia.
Clemens carries the H3 gene for Hessian fly resistance,
Sr17, and an unknown gene for stem rust resistance. Performance
and adaptation have been excellent in the lower Great Lakes/Ohio
Valley region and the Midsouth soft wheat regions. Agripro Clemens
also has a tendency to be drought sensitive.
Jim Reeder and Bobby Talley. Berthoud,
CO, USA.
Over 1,100 hard red winter wheat hybrids
were made in 1994 at Berthoud, CO. Hybridizing agent technology
was used to produce these hybrids. The 500 combinations that
produced the most hybrid seed will be yield tested throughout
the Great Plains in 1994. Performance of previously made hybrids
was encouraging with a significant number exceeding our yield
goal. Yield stability of hybrids over locations and over years
continues to be high.
Approximately 775 hard red spring wheat
hybrids were made at Berthoud, Colorado; Park River, N.D.; and
Munich, N.D. Over 300 of these will be yield tested in the Red
River Valley of North Dakota and Minnesota. Heterosis of previously
made hybrids tested in this region was again high.
We continue to try to identify improved
cultivars that are not only agronomically acceptable, but also
meet our criteria for use as females and males. This will be
a constant requirement on our project. It is one that consumes
considerable resources and takes much teamwork.
Joe A. Smith, Breeder; Blake Cooper,
Breeder; Scott Jacobs, Research Assistant; Krista Algien, Technician.
Berthoud, CO, USA.
Our U.S. program was plagued by another
season where scab infections were very high. The 1994 infections
were more variety-specific than those in 1993. Many of our most
popular varieties, including Bergen and Sonja, appear quite susceptible.
Nordic and Krona appear to have the best tolerance among our
released varieties. Over the past two seasons of heavy scab,
we have sorted through our program for tolerance or resistance.
Most of our germplasm has tended to be quite susceptible; however,
we have identified many lines that have "2375-type"
resistance. A higher frequency of resistance was discovered in
germplasm from Argentina and Canada. Additionally, the culling
process in our heavily infected selection nurseries has allowed
us to shift our germplasm base in the right direction. We have
begun a program to incorporate the Chinese resistance into our
germplasm base, but there is much work to be done.
We have decided to release three new
HRSW varieties for the upper Midwest in 1995. Lars (N90-0671)
is a medium-maturing, very strong strawed, short semidwarf with
low protein. It is suitable for high production areas and intensive
yield management. Hamer (N90-0666) is a medium- to
early-maturing, tall semidwarf with intermediate protein. It
appears to be broadly adapted. Norlander (N90-0700)
is an early-maturing semidwarf with intermediate protein. It
is best suited for the higher stress areas. Lars and Hamer have
performed very well during the past two seasons of heavy scab
infections. They also have good foliar disease resistance.
Steve Askelson, Senior Assistant Breeder;
Jerry Brick, Research Assistant; Scott Seifert, Research Assistant; Tom Griess, Technician; and John Moffatt,
Breeder.
Our 1993-94
crop season was much more typical than the previous two in the
southern Great Plains. High temperatures during grain fill and
lower than normal rainfall in many areas resulted in an abbreviated
crop year, causing some significant reductions in yield and test
weight. There was very little disease pressure, with the exception
of a late buildup of leaf rust in central Texas and northern Oklahoma
and Septoria tritici in south-central Kansas.
We were able to harvest 16 of 19 yield-test locations. Seven
irrigated sites averaged 83 bu/acre with a range from 48 bu/acre
(following sorghum at Dumas, TX) to 109 bu/acre at Berthoud, CO.
Nine continuous/fallow sites averaged 51 bu/acre; ranging from
33 bu/acre at Rome, KS, to 69 bu/acre at both Salina and Everest,
KS.
AgriPro Brand Variety "Hickok"
was released to our associate system in 1994 and will be available
to the farmer in the fall of 1995. Hickok (TXV816610/W82-163)
was tested formerly as WI89-273-13. Hickok is a short
semidwarf, with very high test weight patterns and good yield
performance across the southern Great Plains. Hickok has good
protection to the prevalent leaf rust races and is resistant to
soilborne and spindle streak mosaic viruses. Hickok is a strong
mixing wheat with good milling and baking properties.
Three AgriPro Brand Hybrids, `AP 7301',
`AP 7501', and `AP 7601', were placed in pilot production in 1993-94.
The resulting seed production was used to initiate an extensive
`on farm' growers' test and to enter selected university trials in Kansas, Oklahoma,
Nebraska, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, and South Dakota. AP 7501
also was entered in the 1994-95 Southern Regional Performance Nursery. These are the first hybrid
products to be released from the breeding project after over 13
years of in-house research. Their primary areas of adaptation
are in the west, under irrigation, where they have shown a consistent
10+ bu/acre yield advantage over pureline, varietal wheats. AP
7501 also has shown promise under dryland conditions.