GIFU UNIVERSITY
Faculty of Agriculture, Gifu 501-11 Japan.
N. Watanabe.
Genetic control of glume formation in tetraploid wheat.
The P gene from T. polonicum
determines a long, empty outer glume. A NIL for the P
gene was developed in the genetic background of LD222 durum wheat.
The NIL for P was crossed to two chlorina mutants and
to a NIL for purple culm (Pc). Linkage of the P
gene with the mutated gene in the chlorina mutant CDd6 indicated
that the P gene was located on chromosome 7A. The NIL
for P was crossed with the durum wheat cultivar Langdon
and the Langdon D-genome chromosome substitution lines, LDN
7D(7A) and 7D(7B). Segregation for the long glume trait in the
F2 confirmed the location of P on chromosome
7A, as indicated by the linkage analysis.
Triticum ispahanicum
is cultivated on a limited surface area in a few villages of Isphahan,
Iran. The spikes of T. ispahanicum are longer and more
slender than the normal T. polonicum spikes. Most taxonomists
considered T. ispahanicum a different form of T.
polonicum. The nearly-complete NIL for long glume gene (P2)
from T. ispahanicum has been developed to distinguish P2
from P.
Triticum petropavlovskyi
(2n = 42) was collected in 1959 as a tetraploid from a wheat field
in western China. Udachin and Miguschevo had described it as
a new hexaploid in 1970. The spike is similar to that of T.
spelta, but has edgy spikelets that are easy to thresh, and
this may be considered an expression of a long glume gene at the
hexaploid level rather than speltoidy. The spike of a hexaploid
NIL for P is very indistinct from speltoidy (Watanabe,
unpublished results). The gene for long glume (P3)
from T. petropavlovskyi was not located on chromosome 7A
(Maystrenko, personal communication). We have attempted to (1)
determine chromosomal location of the P3 gene
and (2) incorporate P3 into LD222, assuming
it is located on a chromosome of either the A or B genomes.
Publications.
Watanabe N. 1994. Near-isogenic lines of durum
wheat: their development and plant characteristics. Euphytica
72:143-147.
Watanabe N, Yotani Y, and Furuta Y. 1996. The inheritance
and chromosomal location of a gene for long glume in durum wheat.
Euphytica 91:235-239.
NATIONAL AGRICULTURE RESEARCH CENTER
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki.
305 Japan.
H. Nakamura.
Characterization of the allele variants of seed storage
proteins in the T. aestivum HMW-glutenin subunits and studies
of their correlations with breadmaking quality (Branland and Dardevet
1985; Payne et al.1979, 1981, 1987; Ng and Bushuk 1989)
were established during the past 2 decades.
Variation in the electrophoretic banding patterns of LMW-glutenin bands of 156 Japanese and 9 Australian hexaploid wheat cultivars were examined by SDS-PAGE. Nine different major LMW-glutenin bands were identified and LMW-banding patterns were noted to vary according to cultivar. The Japanese wheats examined in this study were 130 Japanese landraces that were used in the past (41 landraces in Kanto district and 40 landraces in Kyushu district) and 26 Hokkai lines bred in Hokkaido district (Northern Japan).
The nine different, major LMW-glutenin bands (the
nominal molecular weights determined after fractionation in SDS-PAGE
were 42.3, 48.0, 51.8, 54.5, 60.3, 63.4, 75.7, 77.6, and 81.7
kDa. The 130 Japanese landraces and 26 Hokkai lines showed specific
variation in LMW-glutenin banding patterns, different from that
of nine Australian common wheats in the frequency at the LMW-glutenin
banding patterns.
Using SDS-PAGE, the present results should facilitate
the identification of Japanese wheat varieties and their production
in the future. Greater genetic variation may be possible by introducing
the genes of varieties from other countries into Japanese wheats.
Publication.
Nakamura H, et al. 1996. Variation of the
low-molecular-weight bands of seed storage protein in Japanese
wheat cultivars. Japan J Breed 46(Suppl.1):193.
INTERNATIONAL MAIZE AND WHEAT IMPROVEMENT CENTER
(CIMMYT, INT)
Lisboa 27, Apdo Postal 6-641, Colonia Juarez,
Deleg. Cuauhtemoc
06600 Mexico, D.F.,
Mexico.
The CIMMYT Wheat Program in 1996.
Jesse Dubin.
Staff status. At the
end of December, after 8 years as Associate Director, Wheat Program,
Dr George Varughese was transferred to Zimbabwe as Head of the
Southern African Maize and Wheat Network. Dr Jesse Dubin, Head,
Wheat Pathology was named Associate Director as of January, 1997.
Dr. Belgin Cukadar, from North Dakota State University, is a
postdoctoral fellow in the bread wheat program, and Dr. Nigatu
Tadesse, South Dakota State University, is working for a year
on an NSF-funded project relating to drought tolerance.
Dr. Monique Henry from France is the new BYDV specialist, and
Ligia Ayala an Ecuadorian Ph.D. student is working with her.
CIMMYT's 30th Anniversary. CIMMYT
celebrated its 30th anniversary on 23-27
September. Representatives of many nations and Dr. Norman Borlaug,
Nobel Peace Laureate, addressed the gathering. Highlights of
the celebration included the dedication of the new Wellhausen-Anderson
Genetic Resources Center, and the new facilities of the Applied
Biotechnology Center, and consultative sessions with NARSs, donor
representatives, and outreach staff on CIMMYT's
new Mid-Term Plan. The participants felt that the celebration
was a truly successful reflection of CIMMYT's
past and a clear look to the future.
Fifth International Wheat Conference.
The conference was held in Ankara, Turkey, 10-14
June, and was sponsored by the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture
and Rural Affairs, CIMMYT, ICARDA, Oregon State University/USAID,
and GTZ. Local host organizations were the Ministry of Agriculture
and Rural Affairs, and the Transitional Zone Agricultural Research
Institute, Eskisehir. More than 400 scientists from around the
world participated and over 70 scientific papers were presented.
A proceedings will be published.
Breaking the yield barrier. A
workshop was held on 28-30
March, in Cd. Obregon, Sonora, and focused on yield barrier problems
in wheat and how to alleviate them. Twelve keynote speakers from
Argentina, Australia, Israel, Spain, South Africa, U.K., U.S.A.,
and IRRI presented ideas on breaking the yield barriers in wheat.
About 60 scientists from around the world participated in the
meeting. A proceedings has been published and is available upon
request.
Durum wheat consultation.
The meeting was held in Cd. Obregon during the wheat season.
The objective of the consultation was to meet with WANA NARS
durum cooerdinators
and others concerning expectations for CIMMYT's
products and collaboration with NARSs in the WANA region. Coordinators
and representatives of durum programs in Algeria, Italy, Libya,
Morocco, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, CIMMYT, and ICARDA attended.
Discussions centered on traits and combinations desired, genetic
base, screening and testing, standardization of methods, human
resource development, and institutional issues, among others.
Program status. CIMMYT
continues to reevaluate,
reorganize, and refocus on its mandate of poverty alleviation,
natural resource management, and sustainable food security. CIMMYT
and the Wheat Program will be moving towards more internal and
external integration of its programs and staff, and project-based
research focused on outputs to its clients. It is envisioned
that this will be more efficient in achieving its mandate as noted
above.