Fusarium head blight (FHB) is the number one priority disease of wheat in Canada. It threatens all wheat growing areas by reducing crop yield, compromising end-use quality, and affecting food and feed safety through accumulation of mycotoxins such as deoxynivalenol (DON) in the grain. In order to continue to make progress in breeding for FHB resistance and build on the momentum that has been generated, it is critical to provide increased capacity for FHB phenotyping.
Read MoreDeoxynivalenol (DON) is the major secondary metabolite produced by Fusarium graminearum. F. graminearum can infect cereals such as: wheat, durum, barley, rye and corn. This toxin can make the grain unmarketable for producers. This study examined methods to recover high quality (low DON) wheat and barley from infected seed lots.
Read MoreDurum wheat is an economically important crop and the source of semolina for the production of pasta, couscous, and various types of baked products. Its market value is largely determined by the end-use quality traits. However, quality tests are labour and cost-intensive and most times, large quantities of samples are needed. Therefore, practising earlier selection on quality traits on a large scale within the breeding program is a challenge. The advent of advanced genetic and genomic approaches provided a feasible approach to predict quality and make a selection on such a large scale at earlier generations and ultimately release variety with improved wheat quality.
Read MoreTan spot is one of the most destructive foliar wheat diseases in Canada. The causing pathogen is Pyrenophora tritici-repentis(Ptr),a fungus known to produce combinations of three effectors (toxins), namely ToxA, ToxB and ToxC. In Canada, ToxA is known as the most prevalent toxin and the only necrosis-inducing factor.
In this project, the
Read MoreFusarium head blight (FHB) is one of the most important diseases of wheat in Canada. Even a small per hectare yield loss due to FHB results in the loss of tens of thousands of dollars per grower and millions of dollars collectively. Multiple control strategies are required to control the disease because each strategy has a moderate impact. The most important of these are: selection of wheat varieties with genetic resistance; cultural practices, such as crop rotation with non-host crops, possibly supplemented with tillage and other residue management tools; and the last line of defense, fungicide application during the flowering stage of the crop.
Read MoreOrange wheat blossom midge (Sitodiplosis mosellana Géhin) is one of the most damaging pests of wheat in western Canada. This project was undertaken to identify additional wheat genes that can prevent wheat midge damage. Currently, there is a heavy reliance on the wheat midge resistance gene Sm1 in western Canadian wheat varieties, which leaves the crop vulnerable if or when the wheat midge population adapts to or overcomes the Sm1 resistance gene.
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