Australia
August 11, 2008
CSIRO is investigating ways of
controlling a devastating new wheat disease strain which could
lead to a global wheat production and food supply crisis.
Cornell University in the
United States, with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation Global Development Program, has subcontracted
CSIRO to undertake the
research as part of the Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat project
to tackle Ug99 – a strain of the fungus, wheat stem rust.
World leaders in rust research – Dr Evans Lagudah and Dr Michael
Ayliffe from CSIRO Plant Industry in Canberra – will undertake
the CSIRO component of this research in Australia.
“Ug99 first occurred in Uganda in 1999, it’s now in Iran and
closing in on Asia,” says Dr Lagudah.
“Most crops in Asia’s major wheat growing areas are vulnerable
to Ug99, so if it gets to these areas food shortages and famine
could result. Ug99 could also pose a bio-security threat to
Australia.
“Wheat varieties worldwide, including those in Australia, rely
on only a few rust-resistance genes to protect them from
different strains of rust, but most of these resistance genes
provide little protection against Ug99 and derived strains.”
Through the Grains Research and
Development Corporation (GRDC) The
University of Sydney’s
Plant Breeding Institute and the
International Centre for Wheat
and Maize Improvement (CIMMYT), have coordinated the
evaluation of Australian wheat varieties and breeding material
against Ug99 in Kenya, to identify resistant and vulnerable
varieties.
“The challenge is to now identify and deploy more multiple
resistance gene combinations that protect wheat against Ug99 or
find other ways to protect wheat from this fungus,” Dr Lagudah
says.
Dr Lagudah’s research will focus on rust resistance genes that
are effective against Ug99, previously sourced from ancestral
wheat species, to identify DNA markers for these genes. DNA
markers help wheat breeders incorporate desirable genes into new
varieties quickly.
Dr Ayliffe will expand his research into why rice is immune to
rust, to determine what protects it against rust and if this
mechanism can be transferred to wheat to protect it against
Ug99.
“Participating in a co-ordinated international consortium is the
best way to find solutions to this potential global threat,” Dr
Ayliffe says.
This research adds to the current CSIRO – GRDC partnership and
CSIRO’s broader aim to tackle pests and diseases in Australian
grain crops and provide better food security for the future.
The University of Adelaide’s School of Agriculture, Food and
Wine is also involved in the project. |
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