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February 27, 2009
Source:
CropBiotech Update
An international team of
researchers have pinpointed a wheat gene that provides
resistance to stripe rust, a fungal disease that causes millions
of dollars of yield losses annually. The gene Yr36, which was
identified in a wild wheat strain collected from Israel, was
transferred to modern pasta and bread wheat varieties. Tests
showed that the transformed plants were resistant to at least
eight races of the stripe rust-causing fungus, Puccinia
striiformis.
For more information on the research, visit
http://www.jic.ac.uk/corporate/media-and-public/current-releases/090219wheatyieldlosses.htm
and
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2009/090219.2.htm
On a separate study, researchers from the Commonwealth
Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) in
Australia and the University of Zurich in Switzerland have
identified a wheat gene sequence which provides protection
against leaf rust, stripe rust and powdery mildew. The
rust-resistance wheat gene Lr34 encodes a type of transmembrane
transport protein called an ATP-binding cassette (ABC
transporter). Whereas one gene usually only protects against a
single disease for a limited time under commercial production,
Lr34 provides long lasting disease resistance and acts against
multiple diseases.
The complete paper published by
Science is available to subscribers at
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1166453
For more information, read
http://www.csiro.au/news/Saving-wheat-crops-worldwide.html |
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