GENOMICS TO BOOST DURABLE LEAF RUST AND STRIPE RUST RESISTANCE IN HARD WINTER WHEAT

Goals:This project focuses on plant breeding discovery and research and is crucial to wheat cultivar development in the US and globally to counter the most damaging wheat diseases. This project is expected to provide sources of leaf rust and stripe rust in contemporary US hard winter wheat, which will benefit plant breeders and growers. We will also dissect the genetic basis of rust resistance and develop molecular markers for use in marker-assisted selection (MAS) to facilitate the transfer of resistance sources to future cultivars. Since the used genotypes in this project are from both public and private breeding programs, the knowledge gained will be directly translated into wheat genetic improvement.Objectives:Identify sources of leaf rust and stripe rust resistance in contemporary US hard winter wheatMap leaf/stripe rust resistance genes in US hard winter wheat using association mapping and develop markers for use in marker-assisted selectionMap and characterize leaf rust and stripe rust resistance genes in the hard winter wheat cultivar Big Country