Registration of ‘Pembroke 2021’ soft red winter wheat

Authors: VAN SANFORD, DAVID - University Of Kentucky; CLARK, ANTHONY - University Of Kentucky; BRADLEY, CARL - University Of Kentucky; Brown-Guedira, Gina; Cowger, Christina; DONG, YANHONG - University Of Minnesota; Baik, Byung-Kee

Submitted to: Journal of Plant Registrations
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/6/2022
Publication Date: 1/17/2023
Citation: Van Sanford, D., Clark, A.J., Bradley, C.A., Brown Guedira, G.L., Cowger, C., Dong, Y., Baik, B.V. 2023. Registration of ‘Pembroke 2021’ soft red winter wheat. Journal of Plant Registrations. 17:376-384. https://doi.org/10.1002/plr2.20271.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/plr2.20271

Interpretive Summary: Wheat grown in a rotation of corn, wheat and double-crop soybean is at increased risk of Fusarium head blight (FHB), which overwinters in corn stubble. Breeding wheat varieties resistant to FHB is believed to be the most effective and efficient strategy for controlling this disease. An FHB-resistant wheat variety, ‘Pembroke 2021’, was developed by introducing the resistant alleles at four small-effect FHB resistance quantitative trait loci (QTL), which were then pyramided to confer acceptable resistance. ‘Pembroke 2021’ was released in 2020 by the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station for the combination of resistance to FHB, high yield potential, excellent test weight, and resistance to lodging. ‘Pembroke 2021’ is an early-maturing, semi-dwarf soft red winter wheat variety. With improved FHB resistance, ‘Pembroke 2021’ is expected to be widely grown in the southern U. S. corn belt and Kentucky, where wheat is grown following corn and thus is at high risk of FHB. The release and widespread planting of ‘Pembroke 2021’ will benefit wheat growers by reducing FHB management costs and increasing crop yield potential. It will make a positive contribution to the marketability of wheat by having decreased levels of the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol.

Technical Abstract: Kentucky’s wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) crop is planted into a rotation in which corn (Zea mays L.) is followed by wheat, which is followed by double-crop soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]. The causal agent of Fusarium head blight (FHB), Fusarium graminearum Schwabe, overwinters in corn stubble; thus, the Kentucky wheat crop is always at risk for FHB. The preeminent goal of the University of Kentucky wheat breeding program is releasing FHB-resistant winter wheat cultivars. ‘Pembroke 2021’ (Reg. no. CV-1198, PI 701381) is an early-maturing, semi-dwarf, soft red winter wheat cultivar developed and released in 2020 by the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station for FHB resistance, high yield and test weight potential, and lodging resistance. Pembroke 2021, tested as KY 07C-1145-94-12-5, was developed from the cross ‘IL99-15867’/B990081//KY97C-0554-04-05. The pedigree of the KY parent is VA94-54-549/Roane//Kristy. Pembroke 2021 was named for the Pembroke silt loam soil series prevalent in the main wheat-producing area of Kentucky. Pembroke 2021 was selected from F4:5 head rows using a modified bulk breeding method; selected rows carried the resistance allele at the following FHB resistance quantitative trait loci: 1B Jamestown, 1A Neuse, 4A Neuse, and 3B Massey. Pembroke 2021 was tested in Kentucky in multi-location replicated yield trials, the Uniform Eastern Soft Red Winter Wheat Nursery, the Mason-Dixon nursery, the Uniform Northern Winter Wheat Scab Nursery, and the Kentucky Wheat Variety Trial.