Location: Hard Winter Wheat Genetics Research
Project Number: 3020-21000-012-022-A
Project Type: Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 1, 2024
End Date: Aug 31, 2026
Objective:
Strengthen the capacity of the Wheat Resilience Initiative, specifically, for pre-breeding and breeding wheat stem sawfly resistance with both solid stem and non-solid stem germplasm.
• Cooperator will implement trial sites for a regional coordinated wheat stem sawfly screening nursery and perform data collection.
• Cooperator will advance pre-breeding efforts incorporating both solid-stem and non-solid stem germplasm.
• Cooperator will contribute parent germplasm to the ARS dominant male sterile-facilitated recurrent selection population and will receive the population for use in breeding improved cultivars.
Background: Wheat is a key crop in the no-till dryland cropping systems in the North American Great Plains as wheat residue reduces water evaporation and traps snow to provide more stored soil moisture for subsequent summer crops, such as corn and sunflowers. The wheat stem sawfly (WSS, Cephus cinctus) is a native grass-feeding insect that is a threat to wheat production in Canada and Northern Great Plains. More recently, WSS has spread into southeastern Wyoming, Nebraska, and Colorado. Initial surveys have detected WSS in Kansas, the top winter wheat-producing state, and damages are expected to increase as WSS host and geographic range expands. Yield losses from WSS can be due to stem boring and/or stem cutting which causes plants to lodge. The impact of this pest is estimated at greater than $50 million in Colorado and more than $350 million in North America, annually. As this represents an emerging pest that is increasing in incidence and geographical range, there is an urgent need to help identify the drivers of emergence and establishment and implement rapid mitigation strategies.
Approach:
Cooperator will implement a trial site, initially at Akron, CO, for a regional coordinated wheat stem sawfly screening nursery and perform data collection. Nursery will be in the format of single rows with two replications. Check genotypes will include a Triticale, known solid stem cultivars, Byrd CL, and Wesley. Data collected will include flowering time, stem solidness at the base of the plant at flowering, and cutting score at maturity.
Breeding methods will be used to advance pre-breeding efforts incorporating both solid-stem and non-solid stem germplasm. Seed will be sent to ARS for genotyping with genome-wide markers as well as genetic marker(s) for stem solidness to facilitate markers assisted and genomic selection.
In addition, CSU will collaborate in the development of a dominant male sterile-facilitated recurrent selection population for wheat stem sawfly resistance by contributing parent germplasm to the population under development by ARS. USDA-ARS will provide the initial population for use in breeding improved cultivars. This recurrent selection population incorporates both solid stem and non-solid stem resistance. CSU will contract with Montana State University to support a wheat stem sawfly screening nursery at Havre, MT as per the cooperator's nursery in Colorado.
