SPRING 2002 5
Crop Improvement and Biotechnology Projects
Scott Haley
The primary objective of this research is to develop
and release improved wheat cultivars and germplasm with enhanced grain
yield, multiple pest resistance traits, and desirable end-use quality
characteristics. Development of improved wheat cultivars will reduce costs
of wheat production, minimize the use of chemical pesticides, and allow
more successful marketing of wheat to improve farm profitability for wheat
producers and the wheat industry in Colorado.
Three advanced lines were released to seed producers as improved cultivars
in fall 2001. ABOVE and AP502 CL are hard red winter wheat (HRW) cultivars
that carry non-transgenic tolerance to the new imidazolinone herbicide
BEYOND from BASF Corporation. These will allow selective control of winter
annual grasses (e.g., goatgrass, brome and cheat, and feral rye) and broadleaf
weeds that are problematic in Colorado and other wheat production areas.
The third cultivar, AVALANCHE, is a hard white winter wheat (HWW) with
high yield and superior milling and bread making characteristics. Adoption
and production of HWW cultivars may provide Colorado wheat producers with
additional marketing options to increase farm profitability. Two lines
similar to AKRON but carrying Russian wheat aphid (RWA) resistance were
advanced for further field testing and potential release of one line as
an improved cultivar in Fall 2002. Experimental HWW lines with RWA resistance
and good dual purpose (bread and Asian noodles) were advanced to replicated
yield testing in state variety trials in 2002. Herbicide tolerant experimental
lines with RWA resistance and improved milling and baking quality were
advanced to state variety trials in 2002.
Spring wheat experimental lines will be evaluated in replicated field
trials in 2002 for potential release in spring 2004. Availability of adapted
spring wheat cultivars carrying RWA resistance will provide growers with
additional spring cropping options for reduced tillage production systems.
These collaborative research projects were continued or initiated in 2001
to provide basic information and tools to enhance the breeding efforts:
inheritance and chromosomal location of a novel wheat streak mosaic virus
(WSMV) resistance gene; determination of breeding potential of gibberellic
acid-sensitive semidwarfing genes; determination of genotypic and environmental
influences on HWW quality characteristics; characterization of antioxidant
properties of wheat grain; inheritance and allelism of RWA-resistance
in Iranian landrace accessions.
Developing Superior Hybrid and Inbred Quinoa Varieties
Sarah Ward
Grower adoption of quinoa, a promising alternative grain crop, will be enhanced by the development of early-maturing zero-saponin varieties suitable for the western U.S., which will not require post-harvest processing to remove bitter tasting saponins from the seed coat. Preliminary data for heterosis obtained in 2001 suggest that F1 quinoa hybrids may yield substantially more than the inbred lines currently grown in Colorado. Forty-eight F1 hybrids were grown together with the parental lines at two sites in Colorado and Montana. Seed set was reduced for all lines by unusually hot dry weather, but data for plant height, panicle length and dry weight, and total above-ground plant biomass showed F1 lines ranging from 97.7% to 388.6% of the high value parent. Twenty-six new zero-saponin inbred lines have been developed following screening of F2 progeny from three crosses between low-saponin and early-maturing South American quinoa varieties. Theses lines are being advanced to the F5 generations and will be field-tested in Colorado and Montana in 2002.
