NORTH DAKOTA
Plant Sciences Department
Loftsgard Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5051, USA.
J.A. Anderson and B. Moreno-Sevilla.
Personnel changes.
Dr. Benjamin Moreno-Sevilla arrived in July, 1995,
on a Research Associate postdoctoral appointment. His primary
responsibility is the evaluation of the wheat germplasm donated
to NDSU by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. Ben also is conducting
RFLP mapping of Fusarium head blight resistance genes in hard
red spring wheat.
Hard red winter wheat breeding project.
Approximately 16,200 hectares were planted to HRWW
in North Dakota in the autumn of 1994, compared to an average
of 75,000 over the last 10 years. North Dakota releases account
for more than 80 % of this acreage. During the 1994-95
greenhouse season, 198 crosses were made. Breeding nurseries
were sown at two locations, Casselton and Williston. Approximately
9,000 F3-derived F4 headrows were evaluated based on agronomic
phenotype and disease reaction. Ninety-five of 778 F4 lines were
selected based on agronomic phenotype, seedling stem rust reaction,
and protein content. A preliminary yield trial harvested at two
locations and an advanced yield trial at five locations were used
to evaluate 112 and 28 lines, respectively. The yield trial containing
the most advanced germplasm contained eight ND experimental lines
and six varieties and was harvested at six locations. (J.A. Anderson)
Conidia produced by a necrosis- and chlorosis-inducing isolate (nec+ chl+) of Pyrenophora tritici-repentis were used to inoculate seedlings of a population of 135 recombinant inbred lines derived from the cross of a synthetic hexaploid wheat (W-7984) with `Opata 85'. A subset was inoculated with one nec- chl+ and one nec+ chl- isolate. A map developed by investigators of the ITMI and consisting of 541 RFLP markers was used to identify markers associated with tan spot reactions. The population segregated for reaction to the nec+ chl+ and nec- chl+ isolates only, indicating that this population is segregating for resistance to extensive chlorosis. A major QTL on chromosome lAS was associated with resistance. This locus, in addition to one minor QTL and an epistatic interaction, explained 49 % of the variation in chlorotic reaction to tan spot in this population. A second population of 58 F3 families, derived from the cross of a resistant synthetic hexaploid, W-7976, with the susceptible cultivar Kulm, was infiltrated with a necrosis-inducing culture filtrate of the nec+ chl- isolate. The families segregated in a ratio of 15:29:14 (homozygous insensitive: segregating:homozygous sensitive), indicating that a single nuclear gene is responsible for conditioning insensitivity to pathogenic factor(s) in the culture filtrate. RFLPs have been detected that flank the locus conferring insensitivity at distances of 5.7 and 16.5 cM on chromosome 5BL. (J.D. Faris, J.A. Anderson, L.J. Francl, J.G. Jordahl)
Mapping grain protein content from Triticum dicoccoides.
Genes from T. dicoccoides that condition high
grain-protein content were introgressed into hard red spring wheat
germplasm by R. Frohberg. Three recombinant inbred populations
from crosses between lines containing these genes and lower protein
genotypes have been evaluated for protein content. One region
on a group 6 chromosome has a significant effect on protein content
in one population. We are confirming the location of this QTL
in the other two populations. (A. Mesfin, R.C. Frohberg, J.A.
Anderson)
Mapping Fusarium head blight resistance genes.
RFLP analysis of a recombinant inbred (RI) population
from the cross of `Sumai 3/Stoa' is in progress to
identify DNA markers associated with resistance to Fusarium head
blight. A total of 250 low-copy DNA clones was screened between
the two parents using four restriction endonucleases. Approximately
80 % of the clones are polymorphic. One hundred polymorphic markers
were mapped in a subset of 72 RI lines. Markers showing significant
effects will be mapped on the remainder of the population (40
RI lines). DNA markers are being chosen from maps of wheat and
its relatives to obtain approximately 20 cM resolution. (B.
Moreno-Sevilla, J.A. Anderson, R.W. Stack, R.C. Frohberg)
Publications.
Anderson JA and Maan SS. 1995. Interspecific nuclear-cytoplasmic
compatibility controlled by genes on group 1 chromosomes in durum
wheat. Genome 38:803-808.
Anderson JA and Maan SS. 1995. Molecular genetic
analysis of nuclearcytoplasmic interactions in durum wheat. Plant
Genome III Abstracts, San Diego, CA. P. 24.
Faris JD, Anderson JA, Francl LJ, and Jordahl JG.
1995. Molecular mapping of tan spot resistance genes in wheat.
Agron Abstr p. 91.
Gibson DH, Deckard EL, Hammond JJ, Cox DJ, and Anderson
JA. 1995. In vitro selection of winter wheat cultivars for freezing
tolerance. In: Proc 20th Annual Hard Red Winter Wheat
Workers Conference, Oklahoma City, OK.
Nelson JC, Sorrells ME, Van Deynze AE, Lu YH, Atkinson
M, Bernard M, Leroy P, Faris JD, and Anderson JA. 1995. Molecular
mapping of wheat: major genes and rearrangements in homoeologous
groups 4, 5, and 7. Genetics 141:721-731.
Durum wheat breeding and production in North Dakota.
E.M. Elias, R.W. Stack, and J.M. Mitchell-Fetch.
1995 durum wheat production.
North Dakota produced 86.9 million bushels (2.4 million MT) of
durum wheat, which was 76 % of the total U.S. production. In
1995, the Northern Great Plains region produced 5.2 % more durum
wheat than in 1994. Producers in North Dakota harvested 2.9 million
acres (1.2 million ha), an 28 % increase in acreage from 1994.
The North Dakota average yield of durum wheat in 1995 was estimated
at 28.8 bu/acre compared to an average yield of 32.2 bu/acre in
1994. Renville was the leading cultivar in acreage at 32.6 %,
followed by Monroe at 25.3 %.
Diseases. High moisture
and moderate temperatures during the growing season promoted heavy
infections with foliar disease such as tan spot (Pyrenophora
tritici-repentis) and Septoria nodorum. In 1995,
an estimated 7.0 million bushels of durum wheat with an approximate
value of $42 million were lost because of Fusarium head blight
(Fusarium spp.) in North Dakota (M. McMullen and J. Helm,
personal communications). The durum wheat breeding nurseries
at Prosper and Langdon, ND, were infected heavily with FHB.
Search for sources of resistance to Fusarium head
blight. Attempts to introduce FHB resistance
from Chinese sources into durum wheat were unsuccessful, leading
us to speculate that the Sumai 3-type resistance resides
in the D genome. Susceptibility to FHB varies among durum cultivars.
The durum cultivar Rugby was recognized by agronomists and farmers
as suffering less damage to FHB than other cultivars. Identification
of more resistant sources than Rugby could help reduce future
FHB losses.
A set of approximately 200 durum genotypes was obtained
from ICARDA, in Syria. These lines were grown in a replicated
greenhouse experiment and tested for FHB reaction by spiklete
inoculation at anthesis. Seven of these lines had FHB severity
scores below that of the best commercial durum tester line. Triticum
dicoccoides accessions and a set of Langdon-T. dicoccoides
substitution lines are being tested for resistance to FHB.
Mapping grain protein content from Triticum dicoccoides.
P.W. Chee, E.M. Elias, and J.A. Anderson.
Mr. P.W. Chee continued work on molecular analysis
to map the chromosomal location of the high protein genes in LDN(DIC-6B).
Three hundred recombinant inbred lines from the cross `LDN(DIC-6B)/Vic
//Renville' were evaluated for yield and quality traits
at Prosper and Langdon, ND. Based on combined ,analysis the protein
contents of the inbred lines ranged from 12.2 % to 18.2 %. The
20 lines with the highest and lowest protein contents will be
selected to generate a linkage map of chromosome 6B using RFLPs
analysis. Once the high grain protein genes are identified, the
closest RFLP markers flanking the target gene will be sequenced
from both ends, and STS-PCR primer sets will be synthesized
for them.
Visiting Scientists.
Mr. Shi-Yun Xia returned to Tianjin Crop Research
Institute (TCRI), China, after 3 years of work with the durum
wheat breeding project. Mrs. Aixiang Jiang from TCRI joined the
durum breeding project in September, 1995, to continue Mr. Xia's
work on the identification of sources of resistance to preharvest
sprouting. Mrs. Jiang also will be working on the production
of double haploids in durum wheat.
Publications.
Olmedo-Arcega OB, Elias EM, and Cantrell RG.
1995. Recurrent selection for grain yield in durum wheat. Crop
Sci 35:714-719.
Elias EM. 1995. Durum wheat products. In:
Seminar on Durum Wheat Quality in the Mediterranean Region. CIHEAM/ICARDA/CIMMYT,
Zaragoza, Spain. 17-19 Nov., 1993. Mediterranean Agronomic
Institute.p.23-31
Rystedt CM. 1995. Inheritance of tan spot resistance
in three durum wheat genotypes. M.S. thesis, North Dakota State
University.
Departments of Plant Pathology and Biochemistry
North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58105, USA.
L.J. Francl, S.W. Meinhardt, J. Rasmussen, S. Panigrahi, J.G. Jordahl, H.-F. Zhang, T. Freeman, C. Kwon, and E. DeWolf.