Maximizing durable disease resistance in wheat
Term: 4 years, beginning in 2021
Status: Ongoing
Funding Amount: $164,218
Lead Researcher(s): Dr. Curtis Pozniak (University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK))
Funding Partners: Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture -Agriculture Development Fund (ADF), Alberta Wheat Commission (AWC), and Manitoba crop alliance (MCA)
Project Description
The main goal of this comprehensive project is to address the disease resistance breeding in wheat by expanding on the novel genetic and genomic resources that has been established by the research team in CTAG and 4D Wheat projects, co funded by Sask Wheat.
One of the objectives is to localize new genes for stripe (yellow) rust resistance in bread wheat lines that are absent in the commercial spring wheat cultivars and to use the marker assisted selection (MAS) and accelerated backcrossing to transfer Yr15 (an effective broad spectrum resistance gene) into Canadian bread and durum wheat varieties. Next generation sequencing strategies will be utilized to precisely localize its genetic position with the aim to develop a robust marker(s) to assist its introgression. This work will assist to complete the introgression of two important genes (Yr15 and Yr1BS) into our modern varieties.
Screening of the tetraploid wheat panel from the 4D Wheat project will be performed along with the genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to identify genomic regions associated with resistance for stripe rust and Fusarium Head Blight (FHB). The results will serve as a base for future work related to selection and incorporation of the best novel sources of FHB and stripe rust resistance into Canadian breeding programs.