SOUTH DAKOTA
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY AND THE USDA-ARS NORTHERN GRAIN INSECT RESEARCH LABORATORY (NGIRL).
Plant Science Department, Brookings, SD 57007 U.S.A.
Dr. Karl Glover joined the Faculty of Plant Science Department
as the spring wheat breeder and assistant professor of plant science
in June 2002. Glover received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in agronomy
from South Dakota State University (SDSU) in 1994 and 1996, respectively.
In 2000, Glover earned his Ph.D. in plant breeding at Kansas
State University. Immediately prior to beginning his duties at
SDSU, Glover was a post-doctoral research fellow with the University
of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. His research efforts at
SDSU focus towards the development of improved cultivars adapted
for production in South Dakota and the northern Plains along with
other aspects of spring wheat breeding and genetics research.
A.M.H. Ibrahim, S.A. Kalsbeck, R.S. Little, and D. Gustafson.
Crop report and testing sites. Winter wheat production in 2002 was estimated at 18.1 x 10^6^ bushels from 0.63 x 10^6^ harvested acres (1.15 x 10^6^ planted acres), for a state average of 29 bu/acre (3 bushels less than 2001). The total production for 2002 was up 53 % from 2001. Overall, the excellent winter survival rate due to a mild winter came under extreme drought conditions during heading and grain-filling stages which lead to significant yield loss.
In 2002, the winter wheat-breeding program conducted testing at eight sites throughout South Dakota. These environments included Aurora and Brookings (Brookings Co.), Britton (Marshall Co.), Platte (Douglas Co.), Highmore (Hyde Co.), (Selby (Walworth Co.), Winner (Tripp Co.), Wall (Pennington Co.), the Northeast Research Farm near Watertown (Codington Co.), and both irrigated and dry land environments at the Dakota Lakes Research Farm east of Pierre (Hughes Co.). Crop performance testing also was conducted at an additional eight sites west of the Missouri River in cooperation with Clair Stymiest and John Rickertson (SDSU West River Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Rapid City).
Autumn stand establishment at all testing locations was very good. Excellent statewide top-soil moisture in September followed by temperatures ranging from 7-11 F above normal for October and November lead to early plant development. May temperatures were 4-10 F below normal, whereas June temperatures were 5-10 F above normal. Limited subsoil moisture and drought conditions in the spring lead to abandonment of 46 % of winter wheat acreage statewide. The canola and spring wheat stubble nurseries at Dakota Lakes Research Farm near Pierre were abandoned as a result. Plants produced very few tillers at the Central Crops and Soils Research Station in Highmore but compensated by good grain filling aided by a mid June rainfall. Conversely, plants in the nurseries at Wall had excellent plant tillering but poor yield due to poor grain filling as a result of limited post-anthesis moisture. At Platte, Brookings, Watertown, and Britton yield and test weights were comparable to the 3-year averages due to timely rains during plant development. Seed was planted into spring wheat stubble at Selby with excellent moisture, but colder than normal May temperatures combined with herbicide damage (1.5 pt/acre bronate) in drought conditions resulted in low yields.
New cultivar. Expedition HRWW, developed by the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station, was released in August 2002 because of its excellent winter survival and high yield potential in South Dakota and the northern Great Plains.
Expedition was selected as an F3:4 line from the cross 'Tomahawk/Bennett' made during 1993. The cultivar is early maturing (147 d to heading from 1 January), similar to Jagger and similar in plant height to that of Alliance. The winter survival of Expedition is good to excellent, similar to Harding. Expedition has a medium-length coleoptile similar to that of Wesley and fair straw strength similar to that of Arapahoe. Expedition has exhibited moderate adult plant and seedling resistance to prevalent races of stem rust and has been postulated to carry Sr6 and other unidentified genes based on tests conducted by the USDA Cereal Disease Laboratory, St. Paul, MN. Moderately susceptible to leaf rust, field disease ratings of reaction to FHB between 2000 and 2002 suggested some degree of tolerance. Expedition is susceptible to tan spot, WSMV, and the Great Plains biotype of Hessian fly. Expedition has exhibited intermediate reaction to WSBMV.
Composite milling and bread baking properties of Expedition were determined by the USDA-ARS Hard Winter Wheat Quality Laboratory at Manhattan, KS, during 2000 and 2001. Relative to the check cultivars Alliance and Nekota, Expedition had larger kernels that contributed to higher flour extraction and lower flour ash than both checks. Flour protein of Expedition was similar to that of Nekota and better than that of Alliance. In bread-baking tests, bake absorption of Expedition was similar to that of Alliance and better than that of Nekota, whereas its loaf volume was comparable to those of both checks. Expedition had better mixograph tolerance than those of both checks but had stronger mixing characteristics.
A.M.H. Ibrahim and D. Gustafson.
We have established a proactive effort to develop FHB-resistant hard winter wheat varieties and germ plasm. A mist-irrigated scab evaluation nursery was used to evaluate elite breeding lines, regional nurseries, commercial cultivars, and segregating populations. In 2002, we continued investigating planting schemes to determine if direct seeded row materials are affected differently than transplanted hill plots when they are inoculated with FHB. Preliminary results indicated significant correlations between the two methods (r = 0.60; P < 0.05). However, there was a smaller experimental error (CV = 14.7 %) associated with direct-seeded rows testing compared to transplanted hills (CV = 22.9 %). These results indicate that delayed direct seeding could replace transplanting for screening for FHB tolerance. However, transplanted hills should be used if improper weather conditions prevent successful direct seeded nursery. We started screening lines for type-II resistance using point inoculation in the greenhouse. We started forming a complex scab population for breeding purposes and for distributing bulked seed to interested breeding programs in the region. Parents have been selected based on resistance to FHB and other diseases prevalent in the region, high yield potential, superior quality, winter survival ability, and other agronomic traits.
A.M.H. Ibrahim, R. Little, and S.A. Kalsbeck.
In previous years, our breeding efforts for HWWW have centered on making crosses between adapted red lines and unadapted white germ plasm. We incorporated resistance to prevalent races of stem rust and increased the winter survival ability of the hybrid material. We are currently working on increasing the coleoptile length, decreasing preharvest sprouting susceptibility, and decreasing PPO activity (a predictive measure of noodle-making quality) without sacrificing bread-making qualities.
Intensive screening for coleoptile length and PPO enzyme activity over the past two years has been very successful. For both red and white germ plasm in advanced nurseries, the coleoptile length increased by an average of 1 cm. The percentage of white lines (40 %) with coleoptiles longer than that of Harding was twice that of red lines (20 %) in 2003 advanced nurseries. (The coleoptile length of Harding is considered to be a standard for acceptable emergence following deep planting).
We have developed a screening regime for PPO activity that includes testing early generation materials between harvest and planting. In order to complete the tests quickly and to simultaneously screen for bread-making quality, we developed a protocol that combines a meal PPO test with a meal sedimentation test (a predictive measure of bread-baking quality). The protocol is currently being tested for repeatability before implementation in the autumn of 2003.
Preharvest-sprouting resistance is one of our biggest challenges and commands an intense effort for both screening and germ plasm development. We collect heads for screening for sprouting resistance at physiological maturity (20 % moisture) when the peduncle looses all green color or at the Zadock's 87 stage (hard dough). In our tests, the hard dough stage provided the most consistent and reliable results. A scoring formula was developed that combines the percent of germinated seeds on the third, fourth and seventh day after imbibing. The formula gave greatest weight to the number of seeds germinated on the third day. The germination percent was normalized to a scale of 1-9, where 1 = excellent resistance and 9 = very poor resistance to sprouting.
Nuplains and Trego, two elite HWWW varieties, were identified as good (score of 3) and fair to good (score of 4) lines for sprouting resistance, respectively. Of the tested experimental lines entered into 2003 advanced nurseries, 96L9643-3 scored 2 (very good); SD97W671-1, SD99W022, and SD00W005 scored 3; and SD 97W604 and SD00W087 scored 4. Three advanced HWWW lines from Kansas with superior sprouting resistance were included in crossing block to improve preharvest-sprouting susceptibility.
L. Hesler, W. Riedell, and S. Osborne (USDAARSNGIRL).
Research continues on ways to limit infestations of cereal aphids, other arthropod pests, and diseases in wheat. We are determining the mechanisms and levels of resistance to bird cherry-oat aphids among wheat and related grasses. We are also evaluating how agronomic practices affect infestations of cereal aphids and other insects. For instance, with Dr. Robert Berg, SDSU Southeast Research Farm, we are evaluating how tillage influences cereal-aphid infestation. With Dr. Marie Langham (SDSU, plant virologist), we are determining how planting date of wheat affects insect infestations, incidence of viral diseases, and plant growth and yield. We also are collaborating with Dr. Dean Kindler (USDAARS-PSWCRL, Stillwater, Oklahoma) to develop rearing methods, determine host plant suitability, and characterize plant damage by the rice root aphid, another member of the cereal aphid complex and vector of BYDV.
W. Riedell, S. Osborne, L. Osborne, and R. Gelderman (USDAARSNGIRL).
Greenhouse and growth chambers are planned to investigate the interaction of chloride nutrition with wheat diseases. Chloride is an essential plant nutrient that is mobile in the soil profile. Soils in the U.S. northcentral region are often low in this essential nutrient. Application of Cl fertilizers to low-testing soil (based upon soil test) will result in a yield increase about 80 % of the time. Anecdotal evidence suggests that wheat diseases are suppressed with Cl fertility under field conditions. These experiments are planned to augment this data. Experimental results gained from controlled experiments will be put into practice on field-scale research plots at the Eastern South Dakota Soil and Water Research Farm near Brookings, SD. Intensive wheat management practices (higher plant populations, starter fertilizer, cover crops, and time application of nitrogen fertilizer) currently are being deployed on these plots. Chloride levels and chloride fertilizer may also be used on these plots depending on the outcome of the controlled experiments. Annual updates and other information on these experiments will be presented at annual field days, annual research reports, and technical publications.
W. Riedell is a Plant Physiologist, S. Osborne is an Agronomist, L. Osborne is a Plant Pathologist at SDSU, and R. Gelderman is Professor and manager of the SDSU soil-testing laboratory.