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Gene to help hybrid wheat breeding identified

Date:
October 11, 2017
Source:
University of Adelaide
Summary:
Researchers have identified a naturally occurring wheat gene that, when turned off, eliminates self-pollination but still allows cross-pollination -- opening the way for breeding high-yielding hybrid wheats.
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Australian researchers at the University of Adelaide have identified a naturally occurring wheat gene that, when turned off, eliminates self-pollination but still allows cross-pollination -- opening the way for breeding high-yielding hybrid wheats.

Published in the journal Nature Communications, and in collaboration with US-based plant genetics company DuPont Pioneer, the researchers say this discovery and the associated breeding technology have the potential to radically change the way wheat is bred in Australia and internationally.

"Wheat is the world's most widely grown crop, delivering around 20% of total food calories and protein to the world's population," says Dr Ryan Whitford, Hybrid Wheat Program Leader at the University of Adelaide's School of Agriculture, Food and Wine.

"But to meet increased food demand from predicted global population growth, its production needs to increase by 60% by 2050. One of the most promising options to meet this demand is for farmers to grow hybrid wheat varieties, which can offer a 10 to 15% yield boost relative to conventionally bred varieties that are currently on the market."

In Australia, hybrid wheat would probably best serve those wheat growers in the higher yielding, high rainfall zones along the eastern seaboard, but hybrids also could provide improved yield stability in the more challenging growing regions of Australia.

Hybrid wheats result from crosses between two carefully selected pure wheat lines. The challenge to produce hybrid wheat, however, is in the breeding and commercial multiplication of the hybrid parent seed. Wheat is a self-pollinator while the production of hybrid seed requires large-scale cross-pollination.

"Hybrids are widely used for the cereals maize (or corn) and rice but developing a viable hybrid system for bread wheat has been a challenge because of the complexity of the wheat genome," says Dr Whitford. "We have now identified a gene necessary for cross-pollination in wheat which can be used in large-scale, low-cost production of parent breeding lines necessary for hybrid wheat seed production."

In the United States, DuPont Pioneer has developed an innovative breeding technology for corn (maize) called Seed Production Technology (SPT) used to bulk up parent breeding lines for hybrid production.

"The pollination gene is 'biologically contained' to the breeding process and does not make its way past the grandparent stage in producing the end-user hybrid seed," says Dr Marc Albertsen, Research Director, DuPont Pioneer. "This identified pollination gene is the key step for a similar technology for wheat and could dramatically increase the efficiency of hybrid wheat seed production."


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Materials provided by University of Adelaide. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Elise J. Tucker, Ute Baumann, Allan Kouidri, Radoslaw Suchecki, Mathieu Baes, Melissa Garcia, Takashi Okada, Chongmei Dong, Yongzhong Wu, Ajay Sandhu, Manjit Singh, Peter Langridge, Petra Wolters, Marc C. Albertsen, A. Mark Cigan, Ryan Whitford. Molecular identification of the wheat male fertility gene Ms1 and its prospects for hybrid breeding. Nature Communications, 2017; 8 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00945-2

Cite This Page:

University of Adelaide. "Gene to help hybrid wheat breeding identified." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 11 October 2017. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171011091736.htm>.
University of Adelaide. (2017, October 11). Gene to help hybrid wheat breeding identified. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171011091736.htm
University of Adelaide. "Gene to help hybrid wheat breeding identified." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171011091736.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

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