Location: Crop Improvement and Genetics Research
2023 Annual Report
Accomplishments
1. New germplasm for improving stem rust resistance in durum and bread wheat. Linkage drags, referred to as undesirable effects of genes that are closely linked to a desired gene, can block the usage of the desirable gene in plant breeding. ARS researchers at Albany, California, and Fargo, North Dakota, in collaboration with scientists in North Dakota State University, evaluated linkage drags associated with the stem rust resistance gene Sr47 derived from Aegilops speltoides in modern durum and hard red spring wheat germplasm. Yield test and quality analysis showed that the durum and hard red spring wheat lines derived from durum- Aegilops speltoides introgression line RWG35 had little, or no linkage drag, and will be the useful germplasm for durum and bread wheat breeding programs.
2. New sources of leaf rust resistance in emmer wheat. Wheat leaf rust is one of the most devastating fungal diseases of wheat and finding new resistance sources are needed to sustain robust and durable resistance in wheat breeding and production. ARS researchers at Albany, California, and Fargo, North Dakota, in collaboration with scientists at Cornell University and North Dakota State University, conducted genome-wide association analyses of leaf rust resistance in a panel of 180 cultivated emmer wheat accessions. They identified 90 chromosomal regions that are associated with leaf rust resistance, with 24 and 66 regions possibly harboring the known and new leaf rust resistance genes, respectively. The discovery from this study provides a new resource for wheat geneticists and breeders in further genetic analysis of the genes in these chromosomal regions contributing to leaf rust resistance, which can then be utilized in resistance breeding of modern wheat varieties.
Review Publications
Kim, S., Sim, J., Gu, Y.Q., Altenbach, S.B., Denery-Papini, S., Pineau, F., Tranquet, O., Yang, Y., Ji Park, E., Lim, S., Kang, C., Choi, C., Lee, J. 2023. Toward reducing the immunogenic potential of wheat flour: Identification and characterization of wheat lines missing omega-5 gliadins encoded by the 1D chromosome. Theoretical and Applied Genetics. 136. Article 33. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-023-04295-0.
Alabed, D.F., Huo, N., Gu, Y.Q., Thomson, J.G. 2023. Complete genome of Agrobacterium fabrum strain 1D1416. Microbiology Resource Announcements. 12(7). https://doi.org/10.1128/mra.00264-23.
Yu, G., Matny, O., Gourdoupis, S., Aljedaani, F.R., Wang, Y.L., Nürnberger, T., Johnson, R., Crean, E.E., Saur, I.M., Gardener, C., Yue, Y., Kangara, N., Steuernagel, B., Hayta, S., Smedley, M., Harwood, W., Patpour, M., Wu, S., Poland, J., Jones, J.D., Reuber, T.L., Ronen, M., Sharon, A., Rouse, M.N., Xu, S.S., Holušová, K., Bartoš, J., Molnár, I., Karafiátová, M., Hirt, H., Blilou, I., Jaremko, L., Doležel, J., Steffenson, B.J., Wulff, B.B. 2023. The wheat stem rust resistance gene Sr43 encodes an unusual protein kinase. Nature Genetics. 55:921-926. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1820134/v1.
Peters Haugrud, A., Zhang, Q., Green, A., Xu, S.S., Faris, J.D. 2022. Identification of stable QTL controlling multiple yield components in a durum x cultivated emmer population under field and greenhouse conditions. Genes, Genomes, Genetics. 13(2). https://doi.org/10.1093/g3journal/jkac281.
Francin-Allami, M., Bouder, A., Geairon, A., Alvarado, C., Le-Bot, L., Daniel, S., Shao, M., Chingcuanco, D.L., Vogel, J.P., Guillon, F., Bonnin, E., Saulnier, L., Sibout, R. 2023. Mixed-linkage glucan is the main carbohydrate source and starch is an alternative source during Brachypodium grain germination. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 24(7). Article 6821. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24076821.
Nunes, T.D., Berg, L.S., Slawinska, M.W., Zhang, D., Redt, L., Sibout, R., Vogel, J.P., Chingcuanco, D.L., Jesenofsky, B., Lindner, H., Raissig, M.T. 2023. Regulation of hair cell and stomatal size by a hair cell-specific peroxidase in the grass Brachypodium distachyon. Current Biology. 33(9):1844-1854. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.03.089.
Zhang, W., Danilova, T.V., Mingyi, Z., Ren, S., Zhu, X., Zhang, Q., Zhong, S., Dykes, L., Fiedler, J.D., Xu, S.S., Frels, K., Wegulo, S., Boehm Jr, J.D., Cai, X. 2022. Cytogenetic and genomic characterization of a novel tall wheatgrass-derived Fhb7 allele integrated into wheat B genome. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Genetics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-022-04228-3.
Li, X., Li, D., Xuan, Y., He, Z., Zhao, L., Hao, Y., Ge, W., Xu, S., Hou, B., Wang, B., Guo, J., Liu, W., Li, M., Han, Y., Bo, C., Bao, Y., Qi, Z., Xu, S.S., Bai, G., Wang, H., Kong, L. 2023. Elimination of the yellow pigment gene PSY-E2 tightly linked to the Fusarium head blight resistance gene Fhb7 from Thinopyrum ponticum. The Crop Journal. 11(3):957-962. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cj.2022.12.005.
Klindworth, D.L., Salsman, E., Underdahl, J., Elias, E.M., Green, A.J., Dykes, L., Faris, J.D., Xu, S.S. 2023. Linkage drag analysis in three Aegilops speltoides introgressions carrying Sr47 in modern durum and hard red spring wheat germplasm. Theoretical and Applied Genetics. 136. Article 168. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-023-04409-8.
Woods, D., Li, W., Sibout, R., Shao, M., Chingcuanco, D.L., Vogel, J., Dubcovsky, J., Amasino, R. 2023. PHYTOCHROME C regulation of photoperiodic flowering via PHOTOPERIOD1 is mediated by EARLY FLOWERING 3 in Brachypodium distachyon. PLoS Genetics. 19(5). Article e1010706. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1010706.
