Location: Small Grains and Potato Germplasm Research
Project Number: 2050-21000-034-002-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Aug 22, 2014
End Date: Aug 21, 2019
Objective:
Develop and deploy effective resistance against barley stripe rust (incited by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. hordei) to protect U.S. barley production. Conduct a coordinated germplasm evaluation effort involving USDA-ARS (Aberdeen and Pullman); Oregon State University, Corvallis; and University of California, Davis. Climate change, with increasingly volatile swings in climate, can lead to diseases appearing in heretofore “safe” havens. Thus, while stripe rust of barley has been most prevalent in the high rainfall areas of the Pacific Northwest, it could emerge as a threat elsewhere in the US with a simple shift in weather patterns and cropping systems. Thanks to systematic mapping and introgression efforts, a catalog of mapped resistance genes and QTLs is available as is elite, adapted germplasm. The price of healthy crops, however, is eternal effort. In that spirit, this project has the following specific objectives.
1. Discover new resistance genes/QTLs.
2. Confirm the resistance of existing, new, and potential varieties.
3. Monitor pathogen virulence in key production areas.
Approach:
Collaborate with Oregon State University and USDA-ARS Aberdeen for the purpose of testing germplasm and analyzing data. Germplasm, testing protocols, data analysis will be coordinated by OSU. Phenotyping will be done in single-row plots using procedures that are standard at each location. Susceptible spreader rows composed of susceptible varieties, and artificial inoculation (if warranted) will be used to facilitiate infection. Minimum data: barley stripe rust severity at one assessment date, heading date, other diseases. Disease samples will be sent to the USDA-ARS Pullman lab for race identification. Several categories of germplasm will be evaluated: (A) PNW BSR screening trial: This nursery, including checks, will consist of 40 entries composed of mixture of new and previously-tested entries from California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington public breeding programs, resistant and susceptible checks, and a set of differentials. This trial will be grown at each location using a minimum of three replicates. (B) Novel germplasm/population screening: These nurseries, consisting of GWAS panels and biparental populations, will be used to identify new sources of resistance and to elucidate the genetics of barley stripe rust resistance. The materials will be assessed using Type II augmented designs or two replicate complete block designs. For the 2018/2019 season OSU will provide the Cycle II population (n = 384 + checks) for a second year of evaluation and ARS-Aberdeen will provide a population of 64 lines, plus parental checks, developed by backcrossing GZ resistance QTL (elucidated previously by this collaboration) into 95SR316A. These lines represent all potential allelic combinations at these four QTL. Both populations have been been genotyped with the 50K Illumina panel. Depending on the outcome of trials still in progress, additional testing of a 344-line biparental population from the cross 95SR316A/Lenetah may be tested.
