Project Number: 5348-21000-023-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Apr 14, 2008
End Date: Apr 13, 2013

Objective:
Investigate the genetic mechanisms by which the plant hormones abscisic acid (ABA) and gibberellin (GA) control pre-harvest sprouting stand establishment, and drought and cold tolerance in wheat and model organisms. Develop and utilize molecular markers for the western region wheat and barley breeding programs for resistance to biotic and abiotic stress, and end-use quality. Develop wheat cultivars with durable resistance to stripe rust, soilborne diseases, cold and drought, and improved end-use quality for Western Region cropping systems using wheat germplasm resources from the USDA-ARS National Small Grains Germplasm Collection (NSGC) and other national and international sources.

Approach:
Determine whether ABA sensitivity controls grain dormancy and tolerance to preharvest sprouting. Determine whether degree of drought tolerance and cold tolerance tend to correlate with each other and depend upon ABA sensitivity. Determine how GA signaling controls seed dormancy and plant height. Identify and use new and existing molecular markers linked to genes for biotic stress resistance, specifically for stripe rust resistance. Identify and use new molecular markers for genes linked to abiotic and end-user quality. Establish and use high-throughput molecular marker analysis systems to track the segregation of important genes in wheat and barley breeding programs. Characterize core wheat germplasm sets for use in identifying haplotypes important in Western Regional germplasm adaptation. Use molecular markers to link genotypes to phenotypes while maintaining critical haplotypes for enhancement, disease resistance and end-use quality in Western Region wheat breeding programs. Identify new sources of genes giving superior end-use quality, disease resistance, and resistance to cold and drought. Pharmacological agents that enhance or inhibit phospholipase enzyme activity will be used in whole-plant assays to assess their impact on cold acclimation and freezing tolerance; concomitant microarray analysis will be used to define the genes involved.