Unraveling and stacking of grain protein genes in durum to keep pace with yield increases through breeding (Copy)
Term: 3 years, beginning in 2021
Status: Ongoing
Funding Amount: $98,400
Lead Researcher(s): Dr. Yuefeng Ruan (Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada, Swift Current, SK)
Funding Partners: Alberta Wheat Commission (AWC), and Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF)
Project Description
Developing durum wheat varieties that are less susceptible to ergot has become a rising priority. With the goal of enhancing the level of understanding of genetic resistance for ergot in the breeding germplasm, this study will include extensive multi-year phenotyping and next generation genotyping of genetic populations, strategic parental selection and crossing, gene stacking and molecular phenotyping using the Canadian Light Source platform.
The major goals are: 1) Identification of genetic markers associated with ergot resistance factors in durum wheat; 2) introgression of ergot resistance genes into adapted durum germplasm using marker assisted selection and; 3) to gain a deeper understanding of the mechanisms involved in ergot resistance using synchrotron based imaging and spectroscopy techniques and to visualize the differences in the structure and biomolecular composition of the Double Haploid lines carrying different combinations of QTL associated with ergot resistance.
The visualization of mechanisms involved in host resistance will contribute to the understanding of these mechanisms and to validate the genetic analysis results and ultimately be used for the development of varieties with improved resistance to ergot.