2005 Annual Report 1.What major problem or issue is being resolved and how are you resolving it (summarize project aims and objectives)? How serious is the problem? What does it matter? Barley and oat represent important commodities for feed, food, and malt use in the United States. The viability of U.S. industries that use these crops depends on continuing improvements in the efficiency with which they can be grown and used, e.g., increased yield and decreased cost of production. In addition, the worth of these commodities must be increased. The value of barley and oat could be enhanced by incorporating characteristics contributing to more environmentally friendly production systems and by increasing the health-promoting properties of the final products. The need for such improvements is particularly important in light of the continuing erosion of U.S. markets as a result of competitive imports. The U.S. cannot afford to lose markets for barley and oat as they represent important components in environmentally sound crop rotations. Also, in many regions of the northern U.S. there are few alternative crops which are adapted to limitations imposed by such factors as short growing seasons and low water availability. A great diversity of barley and oat germplasm is available and forms the genetic basis for our efforts to improve productivity, nutritional and other end-use qualities, disease and insect resistance, and to reduce the environmental impacts associated with the growth of barley and oat. Germplasm resources include accessions from the National Small Grains Collection (NSGC), specialized genetic stocks derived from mutation and transformation experiments, and specialized and elite breeding lines and cultivars developed at Aberdeen and at other locations. This project has three specific goals:. 1)Develop, characterize, and deploy improved barley and oat cultivars. Oat cultivar development will focus on hulled and hulless oat varieties and germplasm adapted to oat production regions throughout the U.S. Barley cultivar development will focus on winter malting types and spring feed and malting types specifically adapted for the intermountain west region. . 2)Generate improved barley and oat germplasm by moving traits from accessions in the NSGC and other sources into improved plant types, focusing on barley for food, barley and oat for feed (particularly aquaculture feeds), and improved disease and insect resistance. . 3)Develop, evaluate, and apply technologies such as genetic transformation and marker assisted selection and devise methods for their routine application to germplasm enhancement and variety development. This research is directed primarily towards the goals of NP 301; Component II-Genome Characterization and Genetic Improvement; Problem Areas IIa-Genome Characterization, and IIb-Genetic Improvement. The development of enhanced oat and barley cultivars and germplasm--and of the new tools required to improve the developmental process--will lead to increased productivity, utility, profitability, and environmental sustainability of these two crops. Greater utility for feed and food uses will result from improving end-use quality, and by developing novel special-use barley and oat cultivars for food and feed uses, thus increasing marketing opportunities. Environmental sustainability of commercial agriculture will be enhanced by producing cultivars which are pest-resistant, adapted to dryland conditions, and which produce grain with enhanced phosphorous availability. 2.List the milestones (indicators of progress) from your Project Plan. Year 1 (FY 2003) Multilocation trials established. Barley enhanced for beta-glucan and protein content available for nutritional studies. EST-SSR survey for oat completed. PCR-based markers for DP selection in barley developed. Year 2 (FY 2004) 30 RWA resistant lines released. LP oat mutants identified. Enhanced oil oat germplasm identified and available for fish diet tests. Six-rowed spring barley germplasm with enhanced diastatic power is identified and is available for further testing. Agronomic characterization and quality analysis completed for transgenic wheat and barley. Year 3 (FY 2005) Stripe rust resistant cultivar and RWA-resistant cultivar released. Agronomically enhanced LP barley lines available for fish diet tests. Oat map consensus markers identified and co-mapped. Year 4 (FY 2006) Superior winter malting barley lines available for further evaluation. LP oat germplasm available for evaluation. AcTPase (-) lines with antifungal transgenes identified. DP barley isogenics developed via marker- assisted backcrossing. Year 5 (FY 2007) Improved six-row malting cultivar candidate available for evaluation in intermountain region. New sources of partial resistance to oat crown rust identified and characterized. Recombinant populations for transposon tagging characterized and available for distribution. Oat consensus map developed. 4a.What was the single most significant accomplishment this past year? Short title: Development and release of 'Charles' winter malting barley A new 2-rowed winter malting barley, 'Charles' was released. This variety addresses problems of limited water supplies, provides additional flexibility to producers, and a more stable, steady supply of malting barley to industry. 'Charles' is the first winter barley to be advanced to plant scale evaluation, and could potentially provide both increases in yield and quality of malting barley. 4b.List other significant accomplishments, if any. None 4c.List any significant activities that support special target populations. None 4d.Progress report. None 5.Describe the major accomplishments over the life of the project, including their predicted or actual impact. Release of the Russian wheat aphid-resistant barley cultivar 'Burton'. This is the first RWA-resistant barley cultivar, and it will re-enable the production of barley without the use of insecticides in several areas of the intermountain region of the Western United States. Foundation seed of Burton, produced via collaboration with the University of Idaho Foundation Seed program, has been purchased by seed producers in Colorado and Nebraska for distribution to farmers in 2006. Barley germplasm with the low phytate characteristics has been used to create new, agronomically improved lines that can be used for feeding trials for aquaculture and other animal production. Multi-location barley evaluations in 13 environments in Idaho, Oregon, and Montana were established. These evaluations will be critical to identifying widely adapted germplasm for the region. A recombinant inbred (RI) oat mapping population was developed from a cross between 'Ogle' and 'TAMO-301'. This population, commonly referred to as "OT", has been used to identify and map several quantitative trait loci (QTL) controlling agronomic and quality traits in oat. Using OT, we collaborated with plant pathologists to identify disease resistance genes. OT will continue as an important resource for oat geneticists to characterize economically important genes and be useful in the development of an oat consensus map. We developed hulless barley germplasm with high beta-glucan levels (8 to 9%), high protein (17 to 19%) and germplasm with different compositions of amylose/amylopectin starch (2 to 35% amylose or 65 to 98% amylopectin). This hulless barley germplasm will be valuable in the food and feed industry. 'Charles', a new winter malting barley, was released. This is the first winter barley to meet industry specifications for malt quality in pilot scale evaluations. It is being increased for evaluation in plant-scale by several major brewing industry companies. 6.What science and/or technologies have been transferred and to whom? When is the science and/or technology likely to become available to the end-user (industry, farmer, other scientists)? What are the constraints, if known, to the adoption and durability of the technology products? Information on present and future barley cultivars was presented at the following grower meetings: US Grains Council Latin American Malting Barley tour. Aberdeen, ID. US Grains Council Asian Malting barley tour. Filer, ID. University of Idaho Cereal School-Burley, Pocatello, Ashton, and Idaho Falls, ID. Idaho Barley Commission Field Day-Filer, ID University of Idaho Cereal Field Tour, Aberdeen, ID. Caribou County Field Day-Soda Springs, ID Idaho Barley Commission Meeting, Boise ID Updates on winter malting barley was presented at: Barley Improvement Conference, Charleston, SC Seventy one barley genetic stocks and six barley germplasm lines with elevated beta-glucan concentration were sent to scientists in the US and other countries. 7.List your most important publications in the popular press and presentations to organizations and articles written about your work. (NOTE: List your peer reviewed publications below). 'Big gains come from small combines'. (Breeding program feature on Don Obert). AG Weekly. The Times News. Twin Falls, ID. October 2004. An Interview with Dr Juiet Windes, U of Idaho Cereal Agronomist, and Dr. Don Obert, USDA-ARS barley breeder. Idaho Barley Commission Newsletter. June 2005. Hoffman, D.L., Obert, D.E., Hang, A. 2005. Validation of diastatic power qtl in western spring six-rowed barley germplasms. North American Barley research Workshop Porceedings. Review Publications Bonman, J.M., Bockelman, H.E., Steffenson, B. and Jackson. L. 2005. Disease and insect resistance in cultivated barley accessions from the USDA National Small Grains Collection. Crop Sci. 45:1271-1280. Hang, A., Satterfield, K.L., Burton, C.S. 2004. CD-ROM. Beta-glucan and starch levels in hulless barley lines grown at two locations in idaho. Agronomy Society of America, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of America Meeting. no reference number