Progress 10/01/09 to 09/30/14
Outputs
Target Audience: Barley growers, seed companies, small grains breeders and geneticists, malting and brewing industries. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We advanced 384 new, genetically characterized malting lines through phenotype testing toward release. We completed testing of 12 high fiber hulless barley lines for immediate release. We published three refereed papers and one book chapter.
Publications
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Blake T.K., Blake V.C., Wiersma J. 2014. U.S. Barley Yield Gains: A Mixed Story. In: Yield Gains in American Crops. American Society of Agronomy, Stephen Smith ed.
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Progress 01/01/13 to 09/30/13
Outputs
Target Audience: The MAES Barley Breeding and Genetics projects has three primary target audiences: barley growers and seed companies; small grains breeders and geneticists; and the malting and brewing industries. I participate in annual farmers' field days around Montana, and our malting barley variety 'Hockett' and our feed barley variety 'Haxby' have achieved success in farmers' fields. I participate in the USDA-supported wheat/barley CAP project, and have helped make CAP germplasm available to scientists and extension agents in Dubai, Kazakhstan and Texas. We hope to expand the use of these thousands of well-characterized barley lines in trials across the US. The malting and brewing industries are experiencing change largely due to the growth of both craft brewing and craft malting. I work closely with maltsters and brewers from all sectors of these dynamic industries. Changes/Problems: Plant breeding is changing, largely due to the available of inexpensive genotyping by sequencing. I think the program should move to a recurrent selection-based system using GBS, but again that will be up to my successor. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? I initiated a collaborative project with the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (Dubai, UAE) in 2013. We grew the USDA spring barley core collection both with and without saline stress, and mapped the location of genes contributing to sodium exclusion, potassium uptake and sodium tolerance. This work is awaiting publication. I helped train several scientists at ICBA in association analysis in the process. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? We disseminated results through peer-reviewed publications and at international research conferences. I have been asked to organize a barley research conference at this years' Plant and Animal Genome (Asia) meeting. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? I plan to publish what I can. Duke Pauli has one paper in revision, a second nearing submission and a third in progress.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Hockett and Haxby are the second most widely grown malting barley in Montana and the most widely grown feed barley in Montana, respectively. New germplasm is in the pipeline to replace both varieties, but as I retired Dec. 31, 2013, their release and commercialization will depend upon my succesor. We have improved high fiber food barley varieties ready for release to replace Prowashonupana, and low grain protein malting barley varieties that will fit the needs of the growing craft brewing and craft malting industries. Duke Pauli, my final graduate student, will complete his Ph.D. degree this spring, and three new undergraduate workers have been trained in practical barley breeding and seed technology.
Publications
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Blake T.K., Blake V.C., Wiersma J. in press. U.S. Barley Yield Gains: A Mixed Story. In: Yield Gains in American Crops. American Society of Agronomy, Stephen Smith ed.
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Progress 01/01/12 to 12/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The MSU barley breeding and genetics program continues to be one of the most productive barley improvement programs in the US. With the rapid adoption of 'Hockett', our 2-rowed malting barley variety, we demonstrated the willingness of the Montana farming community to accept a drought tolerant variety that diminishes grower risk. We initiated research collaboration with the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, UAE, to assess salinity tolerance across nearly 3000 lines of barley. These lines were genotyped by the USDA wheat/barley CAP project using the 9K Illumina barley SNP chip. We concluded analyses of 4 years of barley CAP yield trials, a project that is contributing to Duke Pauli's PhD project. We are nearing release of several high fiber hulless varieties for the US food industry, and are nearing release of several hay barley varieties for our beef producers. We continue to play a large part in the NIFA-funded Wheat/Barley CAP project. PARTICIPANTS: William Pauli, graduate student, MSU barley project; Nate Arthun, Undergraduate student, barley project; Aiden Bickford, Undergraduate student, barley project; Creed Foley, Undergraduate Student, barley project; Davy Hemmings, Undergraduate Student, barley project; Kasia Steele, Undergraduate Student, Barley project; Taylor Verdun, Undergraduate Student, Barley project; Andy Young, Undergraduate student, Barley project. TARGET AUDIENCES: I presented new barley varieties to 450 farmers and ranchers at field day presentations. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
When compared to the industry standard malting barley variety, Metcalfe, Hockett averages about 220 Kg/Ha greater yield, and under dry conditions produces maltable grain about 50% more frequently than does Metcalfe. This means that dryland barley growers have lower risk, higher grain yield, and an improved bottom line.
Publications
- Mingxiang Liang1,2, David Hole1, Jixiang Wu3, Tom Blake4, Yajun Wu1,5. 2012. Expression and functional analysis of NUCLEAR FACTOR-Y, subunit B genes in barley. Planta 235(4) 779-791.
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Progress 01/01/11 to 12/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The MAES Barley Breeding and Genetics program utilizes the most appropriate breeding approaches and the most advanced genetics tools to select the best-adapted, highest quality barley varieties for barley growers in Montana and across the Northern Plains. As members of the USDA-NIFA supported Wheat-Barley CAP project, we have provided significant barley performance datasets that are contributing to an improved understanding of the genetics underlying barley performance and quality. This is altering the way we breed barley. We have utilized dense SNP mapping tools to characterize our local germplasm and compare it with our colleagues' germplasm. This has allowed our program to identify valuable genetic resources that we previously would have discarded. This has altered my behavior as a breeder. PARTICIPANTS: Dr. Tom Blake, Professor; Dr. Victoria Blake, Research Assistant; Professor Stan Bates, Research Associate; and Graduate Student scheduled to complete his M.S. degree in 2012 Duke Pauli, Research Assistant and Graduate Student scheduled to complete his Ph.D. degree in 2012. TARGET AUDIENCES: Barley growers and the industries that utilize barley are our first targets. The successful commercialization of Hockett barley, drought tolerant 2-rowed barley with excellent malting quality, has revived and interest in barley as a rotation crop for wheat in our rainfed environments. Scientists and students are our second targets. Barley is (I think) ready to make the transition from a crop that has been selected entirely by phenotype to a crop that will be selected by molecular markers, supplemented by phenotype data. It's an interesting transition and I plan our project to play a significant role. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: The project has moved forward nicely.
Impacts
Our greatest strength is our ability to conduct very large, replicated field trials. Many of our colleagues have superb strengths in bioinformatics, DNA and RNA sequencing, and gene expression analysis. The impact of our specialization in conducting the kinds of very large field trials is that our colleagues at more advanced institutes that lack our field resource are pleased to collaborate with us. We did the field experiments that demonstrated that in cultivated barley, association analyses with fewer than 400 individuals characterized for standard phenotypes (plant height, heading date, grain yield, grain test weight, grain protein content) will provide an unacceptable number of false positive results. We also demonstrate that field replication helps reduce false positive results.
Publications
- Mingxiang Liang1,2, David Hole1, Jixiang Wu3, Tom Blake4, Yajun Wu1,5. 2011. Expression and functional analysis of NUCLEAR FACTOR-Y, subunit B genes in barley. Planta. DOI: 10.1007/s00425-011-1539-0
- Hongyun Wang, Kevin P. Smith, Tom Blake, Richard Horsley, and Gary J. Muehlbauer. 2011. Effect of population size and unbalanced data sets on QTL detection using genome-wide association mapping in barley breeding germplasm. Theor. Appl. Genet. DOI 10.1007/s00122-011-1691-8
- Blake T. 2011. Klages Barley. In: The Oxford Companion to Beer. Pp 517-518
- Blake T. 2011. Sulfuring of Hops. In: The Oxford Companion to Beer. Pp 776.
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Progress 01/01/10 to 12/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The Montana State University Barley Breeding and Genetics Program brought the PVP'd malting barley variety 'Hockett' into commercial production in 2010. We published four refereed journal articles and one book chapter in 2010. Our new malting barley line, MT010158 was advanced to its second year of plant scale testing by the US malting and brewing industry, and will be grown and malted in 2011. PARTICIPANTS: Stanley Bates, research associate with the barley breeding and genetics program, is pursuing his M.S. degree and should finish his dissertation in 2011. Two new graduate students, Duke Pauli and Chris Shafer are also pursuing graduate degrees within the program. We employ three undergraduate students each year and train them in field plot research techniques and statistical analysis. TARGET AUDIENCES: I speak to barley growers, maltsters and brewers each year, and my metric for success is adoption of varieties my program has developed. The MSU Barley Breeding and Genetics Program has released the most rapidly expanding malting barley variety in the US, and its varieties have achieved dominance in the feed and hay sectors of the market. We continue to do basic research needed to identify alleles of genes that contribute to improved variety value, and continue to develop new, improved germplasm with novel market attributes. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: The loss of the NIFA-funded 'Barley for Rural Development' project will significantly alter the MSU Barley Breeding and Genetics project. While our basic barley genetics research will continue through funding by the NIFA-supported Wheat/Barley CAP project, we may need to scale back our breeding efforts.
Impacts
The MSU Barley Breeding and Genetics Program utilizes advanced genomics technologies to map and mark genes that contribute to improved on-farm performance and value. Our feed barley variety, 'Haxby', now covers 64% of Montana's feed barley acreage, and our hay barleys cover more than 80% of Montana's hay barley acres. Our recently-released malting barley variety 'Hockett' entered commercial production in 2010 and vaulted into third place among malting barley varieties, covering more than 40,000 acres in 2010. More certified seed of Hockett will be available in 2011, and we expect Hockett to displace the industry standard variety 'Harrington' this year. In 2012 we expect Hockett to compete with the Canadian variety 'Metcalfe' for the position of the most widely-grown barley variety in Montana. Our experimental line MT010158 is now in its final year of plant scale evaluation, and we expect that it will be added to the American Malting Barley Association's list of recommended varieties early in 2012. We are now preparing for production of certified seed in 2012 and commercial production of this line in 2013.
Publications
- Hamblin MT, Close TJ, Bhat PR, Chao S, Kling JG, Abraham KJ, Blake T, Brooks WS, Cooper B, Griffey CA, Hayes PM, Hole DJ, Horsley RD, Obert DE, Smith KP, Ullrich SE, Muehlbauer GJ, Jannink J-L. 2010. Population Structure and Linkage Disequilibrium in U.S. Barley Germplasm: Implications for Association Mapping. Crop Sci. 50: 556-566.
- Abdel-Haleem H., Bowman J., Giroux M., Kanazin V., Talbert H., Surber L., Blake T. 2010. Quantitative trait loci of acid detergent fiber and grain chemical composition in hulled x hull-less barley population. Euphytica 172:404-418.
- Abdel-Haleem H., Bowman J.G.P., Kanazin V., Surber L., Talbert H., Hayes P.M., Blake T. 2010. Quantitative trait loci for dry matter digestibility and particle size traits in 2-rowed x 6-rowed barley population. Euphytica 172: 419-433.
- Blake T., Blake V.C., Bowman J.G.P., Abdel-Haleem H. 2010. Barley Feed Uses and Quality Improvement. In: S.E. Ullrich, ed. Barley: Production, Improvements and Use. Wiley-Blackwell, Ames, IA.
- Nair, S., S.E. Ullrich, T.K. Blake, B. Cooper, C.A.Griffey, P.M. Hayes, D.J. Hole, R.D. Horsley, D.E.Obert, K.P. Smith, G.J. Muehlbauer, and B.-K. Baik. 2010. Variation in kernel hardness and associated traits in U.S. barley breeding lines. Cereal Chem. 87:461-466.
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Progress 01/01/08 to 12/31/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The Montana State University barley improvement program released the barley variety Hockett in January, 2008, and is now in the process of commercializing this new variety. We identified two genotypes of barley that produce straw that contains more than 30% soluble carbohydrate, primarily fructan. We are in the process of developing commercializable technologies to permit high fructan barley straw to be a practical feedstock for straw-based ethanol production. We also began statewide testing of backcross lines that carry the high grain starch allele at the gene qGPC6H. It appears as though deployment of this gene in rainfed barley production areas will result in higher quality malting barley. PARTICIPANTS: Dr. Thomas K. Blake, Professor, Plant Sciences, Montana State University Dr. Victoria C. Blake, Res. Asst. Professor, Plant Sciences, Montana State University Stanley Bates, Research Associate, Plant Sciences, Montana State University William Pauli, Research Associate, Plant Sciences, Montana State University TARGET AUDIENCES: Barley growers constitute our most important audience. I present our new varieties, along with those developed in neighboring states, at several farmer field days each year. Other audiences include our research collaborators, barley's industrial users and students. Montana's barley growers have made Haxby, our recently released feed barley, the most commonly grown feed barley in Montana. The malting and brewing industry is considering adopting Hockett, our dryland-adapted 2-rowed mat barey variety, as its dryand standard variety. Through the USDA-sponsored barley CAP program, we are providing phenotype data on many hundreds of advanced barley breeding lines from 8 collaborating barley breeding projects for use by students worldwide. This remarkable collaborative effort is changing the way all of America's barley breeding projects work through improving collaboration. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Our major change in the past year has been through the USDA-sponsored barley CAP program. We perform replicated yield trials for 768 new entries each year and provide those data to the barley research community. This effort is beginning to demonstrate just how productive open collaboration can be in plant breeding.
Impacts
The new dryland malting barley variety Hockett will begin to be commercialized in the spring of 2009. This variety should displace the commonly grown varieties, Metcalfe and Harrington, and should provide regional barley growers with a more reliable malting barley crop. Deployment of the high grain starch allele at qGPC6H into our elite malting and feed barley germplasm appears to be providing barley with higher yield and no measurable yield decline. This allele results in delayed senescence, and consequently (when the environment permits) grain with increased starch content and reduced protein percentage, both good traits for malting barley. We have produced hundreds of these backcross lines, and these are now entering statewide yield trials. Our straw to ethanol system, involving barley straw containing a large quantity of fructan, will be tested at the pilot scale this fall. It is our hope that this process will permit on-farm straw to ethanol production for regional barley growers.
Publications
- Distelfeld A, Koroa A, Dubcovsky J, Uauy C, Blake T, Fahima T. 2008. Colinearity between the barley grain protein (GPC) QTL on chromosome 6HS and the wheat Gpc-B1 region. Molecular Breeding 22(1) 25-38.
- Turuspekov Y, Beecher B, Darlington Y, Bowman J, Blake TK, Giroux MJ. 2008. Hardness Locus Sequence Variation and Endosperm Texture in Spring Barley. Crop Science 48:1007-1019
- Bates S, Blake TK. 2008. 2008 Montana Spring Barley Annual Report.
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Progress 01/01/07 to 12/31/07
Outputs
OUTPUTS: We released MT910189, Hockett, a 2-rowed dryland-adapted malting barley variety. This variety is higher yielding than the commonly-grown varieties Harrington and Metcalfe. Hockett retains kernel weight and plumpness in drought better than Harrington and Metcalfe. Anheuser-Busch will contract as much as 20,000 acres of Hockett in 2008. As a service to the USDA Barley Coordinated Activities Program we grew 768 entries from eight barley breeding programs in replicated yield trials under both dryland and irrigated conditions. These data are now being used in association analyses to discover the genes that contribute to economically significant variation in each of our programs. We fine-mapped qGPC6H and confirmed that NAMH1 is the likely gene controlling variation in grain starch/protein ratio. We identified barley genotypes from the USDA barley core collection that produce forage and straw with improved potential for cellulosic ethanol production.
PARTICIPANTS: Dr. Victoria Carollo Blake heads up the cellulosic ethanol program. Mr. Jeremy Jewell completed his M.S. degree and is now in a PhD program at Washington State University. Mr. Stan Bates is the research technician for the program and is persuing his M.S. Degree in plant breeding. We trained 6 undergraduate students in plant breeding technology.
TARGET AUDIENCES: We serve small grains producers in North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. This year more than 100,000 acres were planted to our recently-released varieties including Hays, Haxby, Craft and Eslick. The dramatically expanded germplasm exchange catalyzed by the USDA Barley CAP program generated a shift in opinion within the Montana barley producer community. Their understanding that we were actively collaborating with other barley breeding programs in the US convinced many that our barley improvement program seeks the best germplasm for their use, not merely our germplasm.
PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Our program is working well. No major changes are being implemented.
Impacts
Hockett provides small grains producers with a more reliable, higher yielding alternative to the widely grown Canadian varieties Harrington and Metcalfe. This is important because malting barley is now commanding between $350/ton and $420/ton, while feed barley is selling for about $300/ton. Hockett's better drought tolerance will provide barley growers with barley that meets malting standards more frequently. Anheuser-Busch is the worlds' largest malt purchaser, and its favorable review of the flavor profile of beer made with Hockett is very welcome news. The results from our extraordinarily large USDA Barley CAP yield trials resulted in a dataset that will enable association analysis. Our contribution to the USDA Barley CAP is also enabling enhanced barley germplasm exchange both in the US and overseas. Determining that NAMH1 is the likely causal gene contributing to the variation in starch/protein noted previously is key to development of the next generation of
malting barley varieties. The more active allele of NAMH1 appears to extend grainfill duration by 3-4 days, enabling increased starch deposition. This should result in grain with increased malt extract, the most critical malt quality trait.
Publications
- The 2007 Montana Spring Barley Annual Report. Bates, S., Blake, TK. http://hordeum.oscs.montana.edu/2007report Turuspekov, Y., B. Beecher, Y. Darlington, J.G.P. Bowman, T.K. Blake and M.J. Giroux. Hardness locus sequence variation and endosperm texture in spring cultivars of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). Crop Science, accepted 11/12/07, in press.
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Progress 01/01/06 to 12/31/06
Outputs
Thanks to the diversion of corn to ethanol production, farmers in the Northern Plains who grow barley are once again making money. Feed barley rose from about $80/ton to $140/ton over the past year. This should reverse the trend that saw barley acreage decline from more than 12 million acres in 1986 to less than 3 million in 2006. Malt barley contracts are being offered at about $160/ton, making the differential between feed yield and malt premium a choice to be considered by growers. Our recently-released feed barley varieties, Haxby and Eslick, are expanding in acreage from Eastern Washington through Western North and South Dakota, as is Hays, our new forage barley. We released Craft, a malting barley devoted to organic malt barley production, to producers for the 2007 cropping season. All the seed our held by our Foundation Seed Program has been reserved by organic barley producers in Montana. The resurgence of feed and malt barley in Montana and the Northern
Plains is good news for those interested in developing rational crop rotation systems. It is also good news for those interested in having backup crops for our rapidly expanding starch-based ethanol industry. If we have a disruption in domestic corn supply due to poor weather or disease, barley can partially fill the demand. Barley straw and forage also presents a potential opportunity for the cellulosic ethanol industry. Our program is now concluding a survey of digestibility of barley straw and forage from the 1916 entries in the USDA spring barley core collection, and we observe an almost 2-fold range in in-rumen digestibility. This should translate into significant variation utilizing the cellulose pretreatment systems currently available to the cellulosic ethanol industry. If the approximately 1 million tons of Montana barley straw were converted to ethanol it would result in about 60 million gallons of ethanol per hear, and would increase farmer revenues by about 30 million
dollars. The MSU barley improvement program has released four varieties (Haxby, Hays, Eslick and Craft) that dramatically improve the quality and yield of barley produced under dryland conditions in Montana and neighboring states. Our new malting line 'Geraldine' is in its last year of industry-sponsored malting and brewing tests, and our most drought-tolerant dryland malting barley line 'Hockett' is currently passing through its first year of plant scale tests. These six varieties should secure favor with barley growers, cattle feeders, maltsters, brewers and the American consumer in the coming decade. We recently found that a rare allele of a gene on barley chromosome 6 alters grainfill duration and, in appropriate environments, can dramatically increase grain starch percentage. This resulted, at least in Bozeman, MT in 2006 in a well-replicated yield trial, in a yield increase of more than 15%. This may also result in a substantial malting quality improvement. We have backcrossed
this gene into many of our well-adapted varieties, and will be evaluating the impact of this gene on yield and quality in multi-location replicated yield trials in the 2007 crop year.
Impacts
We recently released four new feed, forage and malt barley varieties that fit Montana's production environments and that provide added value to Montana barley growers and to growers throughout the Northern Plains. As Haxby displaces Harrington and Gallatin, we can expect to see an average per acre yield improvement of about 15%. In Montana, at current barley acreage, this would result in about $45million per year in added revenue to dryland barley growers. The malt barley varieties, Craft, Geraldine and Hockett, should improve malt barley production reliability while also increasing grain yield over Harrington and Metcalfe. If these varieties succeed in displacing Harrington and Metcalf, they should result in about $80 million in added revenue to Montana barley growers.
Publications
- Singh M, Chabane K, Valkoun J, Blake T. 2006. Optimum sample size for estimating gene diversity in wild wheat using AFLP markers. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 53:23-33.
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Progress 01/01/05 to 12/31/05
Outputs
The Montana State University barley improvement program is devoted to the development of high quality drought tolerant barley lines for the malting, feeding and ethanol industries. We made significant advances in our understanding of the genetics underlying variation for the rate at which barley ferments in the bovine rumen. We can now reliably barley lines with feed quality characteristics equal to or better than corn. We also advanced our understanding of the genetics underlying variation for grain protein deposition. Fine mapping of qGPC6H, a gene that impacts the timing of initiation of foliar senescence, resulted in development of new genetic markers for this economically critical trait for malting barley varieties. Yield trials of hulless, high starch percentage barley lines for the ethanol industry permitted selection of 10 new lines that will be grown in statewide trials in 2006, permitting accurate estimation of their potential economic utility.
Impacts
Our three malting barley lines that are now in plant scale test with the malting and brewing industries will result in a near 50% improvement in dryland farmer success, due to their drought tolerance advantages over Harrington. We expect this to result in $10 million per year in increased Montana farmgate revenue.
Publications
- Carollo, V. Matthews DE, Lazo GR, Blake TK, Hummer DD, Lui N, Hane DL, Andersen OD. 2005. Graingenes 2.0. An improved resource for the small grains community. Plant Physiology 139. 643-651.
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Progress 01/01/04 to 12/31/04
Outputs
Objectives: The Montana State University barley improvement program utilizes high quality field research technologies, extensive on-station and on-farm trialing and state-or-the-art genomics tools to develop well-adapted, high yielding, improved quality barley varieties for farmers in Montana and the Western United States. Our 'Feed Barley for Rangeland Cattle' project includes the world's most extensive and effective varietal testing program of its kind. Our malting barley improvement program is currently the most successful in the US at producing malt quality 2-rowed barley lines that are adapted to dryland production systems. We disseminate our research products through technical and non-technical publications, and through release of germplasm and new genomics tools and techniques to farmers, colleagues and stakeholders. APPROACH: We make more than one hundred targeted crosses per year between lines carrying genes conferring improved quality traits or stress
tolerance and well-adapted, high yielding barley varieties. We derive and select among tens of thousands of inbred lines from these crosses each year, and select a few populations each year for detailed genetic analysis. Once we understand which genes control variation for economic traits of interest, we move those genes into our adapted barley varietal base through crossing and marker assisted selection. Results: The MAES barley breeding and genetics project achieved several milestones in 2004. Our new feed varieties, Haxby and Eslick, are reaching growers throughout the region. Our new hay barley variety, Hays, is rapidly displacing its predecessor, Haybet. One malting line, MT970116, entered plant scale testing in 2004-2005, and two others, MT910189 and MT960101, are being increased for plant scale test in 2005-2006. We backcrossed our recently mapped rumenal fermentation rate gene into several agronomically attractive barley varieties, and will test the outcome in feedlot trials
this fall. We are also backcrossing genes that impact grain protein percentage and grain hardness into agronomically desirable backgrounds, and will test the impact of these genes on both malting and feed quality in 2007 and beyond. KEYWORDS: barley breeding; barley genetics; comparative genomics; marker assisted selection; quantitative trait analysis; quantitative trait loci; feed quality; malting quality
Impacts
Our recently released barley varieties resulted in 10% yield improvements with no added inputs. The genes contributing to improved feed quality are predicted to improve average daily gain by up to 15%. Our malting lines are among the best in North America, and are far better-adapted to the rainfed Montana production environment than is Harrington, the most commonly-grown malting barley variety. Should the industry switch to one of our regionally-adapted varieties, farmers could expect significant improvement in the frequency with which their barley makes malting grade, and consequent improvement in farmgate revenue.
Publications
- Kaiser, CR. Bowman, JGP. Surber LMM. Blake TK. Borkowski JJ. 2004. Variation in apparent component digestibility of barley in the rat from the core collection of the USDA National Small Grains Germplasm Collection. Animal Feed Science and Technology 113: 97-112.
- Yang, L., Mickelson, S., See, D, Blake T, and Fischer AM. 2004. Genetic analysis of the function of major leaf proteases in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) nitrogen remobilization. J. Exp. Bot., 55: 2607 - 2616
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Progress 01/01/03 to 12/31/03
Outputs
The MAES barley breeding and genetics project achieved several milestones in 2003. Our new feed varieties, Haxby and Eslick, are reaching growers throughout the region. Our new hay barley variety, Hays, is rapidly displacing its predecessor, Haybet. One malting line, MT970116, is entering plant scale testing in 2004, and another, MT910189, is being increased for plant scale test in 2005. Our basic research effort successfully mapped the chromosomal location of a gene which modifies rumenal fermentation rate. Our models indicate that reducing rumenal fermentation rate will improve both feed intake and average daily gain, making barley superior to maize as a feedgrain. We are backcrossing this gene into several agronomically attractive barley varieties, and will test the outcome in feedlot trials in 2005-2006. We are also backcrossing genes that impact grain protein percentage and grain hardness into the same agronomically desirable backgrounds, and will test the impact
of these genes on both malting and feed quality in 2007 and beyond.
Impacts
Our recently released barley varieties resulted in 10% yield improvements with no added inputs. The genes contributing to improved feed quality are predicted to improve average daily gain by up to 15%. Our malting lines are among the best in North America, and are far better-adapted to the rainfed Montana production environment than is Harrington, the most commonly-grown malting barley variety. Should the industry switch to one of our regionally-adapted varieties, farmers could expect significant improvement in the frequency with which their barley makes malting grade, and consequent improvement in farmgate revenue.
Publications
- Mickelson S, Fischer AM, Meyer FD, Garner JP, Blake TK. 2003. Mapping of QTLs associated with nitrogen storage and remobilization in barley leaves. Journal of Experimental Botany 54 (383) 801-812
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Progress 01/01/02 to 12/31/02
Outputs
The Montana State University Barley Breeding and Genetics Program had a successful year in 2002. Foundation seed of our new feed barley variety, Haxby, was produced and will become available in 2003. Recommnedation of an additional feed barley line (MT960228) for release is anticipated in January 2003. We have identified several experimental lines in development which appear to have great potential for malting quality along with high grain yield. One such line is being increased to allow plant scale malt and brew evaluation. We will be recommending the release of a new forage barley line, to be named Hays, with improved lodging resistance and a high grain yield, making this dual use crop particularly attractive to producers in dry years. We have continued our work on microarray detection of single nucleotide polymorphisms. Research on the genetics of barley dry matter digestibility in cattle has continued along with dissection of hromosome regions which appear to
control both grain protein and foliar nitrogen levels.
Impacts
Barley varieties with improved agronomic performance and enhanced malting quality will provide Montana producers greater economic return for their crops. Our feed barley variety Valier, released in 1999, has been increasing in acreage statewide and has great potential as a high yielding feed barley in the state. Haxby, released in 2001, also has great potential as a feed barley due to its high test weight. Due to drought conditions in the state, we anticipate high levels of interest in our new hay barley variety.
Publications
- Kanazin, V. Talbert H., See, D., Blake T. 2002. Discovery and Manipulation of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in Barley. Plant Mol. Biol. 48:529-537.
- See D. Kanazin V. Kephart K., Blake T. 2002. Mapping genes controlling variation in barley grain protein content. Crop Science 42:680-685.
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Progress 01/01/01 to 12/31/01
Outputs
The Montana State University Barley Breeding and Genetics Program had a successful year in 2001. A new feed barley variety, Haxby, was released this year with foundation seed available in 2003. We have identified several experimental lines in development which appear to have great potential for malting quality along with high grain yield as well as new feed barley lines. We are also developing a forage barley line (MT981060) with improved lodging resistance and a high grain yield, making this dual use crop particularly attractive to producers in dry years. We have continued our work on single nucleotide polymorphism technology as a tool for detecting seed contamination. Research on the genetics of barley dry matter digestibility in cattle has been initiated along with dissecting chromosome regions which appear to control both grain protein and foliar nitrogen levels.
Impacts
Barley varieties with improved agronomic performance and enhanced malting quality will provide Montana producers greater economic return for their crops. Our feed barley variety Valier, released in 1999, was seeded on 6,400 acres in Montana in 2001 and has great potential as a high yielding feed barley in the state.
Publications
- Beecher, B., Smidansky, E.D., See, D., Blake, T.K. and Giroux, M.J. 2001. Mapping and sequence analysis of barley hordoindolines. Theor. Appl. Genet. 102:833-840.
- Bowman, J.G.P., Blake, T.K., Surber, L.M.M., Habernicht, D.K. and Bockleman, H. 2001. Feed- Quality Variation in the Barley Corel Collection of the USDA National Small Grains Collection. Crop Sci. 41:863-870.
- Endecott, R.L., Bowman, J.G.P., Surber, L.M.M., Boss, D.L., Robison, K.N. and Blake, T.K.. 2001. Feeding value of Lewis and Baronesse barley lines for finishing steers. West. Sec. Am. Soc. Anim. Sci. 52:551-554.
- Kincheloe, J. J., Bowman, J.G.P., Surber, L.M.M., Anderson, K.A., Robison, K.N., Endecott, R.L., Robinson, B.L. and Blake, T.K. 2001. Feeding value of Morex, Steptoe, and two experimental backcross barley lines for finishing steers. West. Sec. Am. Soc. Anim. Sci. 52:555-558.
- Sherman, J.D., Smith, L.Y., Blake, T.K. and Talbert, L.E. 2001. Identification of barley genome segments introgressed into wheat using PCR markers. Genome 44: 1-7.
- Surber, L.M.M., Bowman, J.G.P., Blake, T.K., Robison, D.N., Endecott, R.L. and Robison, B.L. 2001. Identification of genetic markers associated with forage quality characteristics in Lewis x Karl barley lines. Proc. West. Sec. Am. Soc. Anim. Sci. 52: 292-295.
- Surber, L.M.M., Stowe, M.T., Bowman, J.G.P., Cash, S.D., Hensleigh, P.F. and Blake, T.K. 2001. Variation in forage quality characteristics of barley. Proc. West. Sec. Am. Soc. Anim. Sci. 52: 353-356.
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Progress 01/01/00 to 12/31/00
Outputs
The MSU barley breeding and genetics program had another banner year. We released one new barley variety (H386o224) and gained approval to release another next year (Haxby). We graduated two students, Deven See (MS) who is now pursuing his PhD with Dr. Bikram Gill, and Ji-Ung Jeung who has returned to his home in Korea to improve watermelons. We published several papers and continued our attempt to develop single nucleotide polymorphisms into the markers of the future.
Impacts
Last years' release of Valier, this years' release of H386o224 and next years' release of 'Haxby' will improve the genetic base of Montana's feed barley germplasm by at least ten percent.
Publications
- See, D., Kanazin V., Talbert H., Blake T. 2000. An Electrophoretic Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Detection System. Biotechniques 28:710-716.
- Sherman JD, Smith LY, Blake TK, Talbert LE. 2000. Identification of barley genome segments introgressed into wheat using PCR markers. Genome 44: 1-7.
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Progress 01/01/99 to 12/31/99
Outputs
The MAES barley breeding and genetics project had an excellent 1999. We released 'Valier' (PI 610264), our first attempt to select a barley variety with improved feedlot performance. We published several papers, pulled in approximately $1.4 million in new grant dollars, and graduated one masters' student, Coleen Regli. Our work in the '90s has led to the development of well-supported feedlot trial-based regressions which point to the importance of grain starch percentage, grain ADF percentage, particle size after rolling and rate of rumenal fermentation as the major characteristics controlling barley feedlot value. We examined the spring core of the barley world collection and found enormous variance for each of these traits. The manuscript detailing this is in press with Crop Science. We believe that we can dramatically improve the feed quality of barley using naturally occurring variation.
Impacts
'Valier' is in production by barley growers in Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. We expect a couple of thousand acres produced in 2000, with much larger acreage n 2001. If successful, this may promote our local backgrounding industry and improve our local farm economy.
Publications
- Benham J and Blake TK. 1999. Genographer: A graphical tool for automated AFLP analysis. Journal of Agricultural Genomics vol 4. http://www.ncgr.org/ag/jag
- Habernicht, D.K. and Blake T.K. 1999. Application of PCR to detect varietal purity in barley malt. Journal of the American Society of Brewing Chemists 57(2):64-71.
- Shan X. TK Blake and LE Talbert. 1999 Conversion of AFLP markers to sequence-specific PCR markers in barley and wheat. Theor and Appl. Genet.98:1072-1078.
- Regli DC, Bowman JGP, Blake TK, Borkowski JJ, Surber LMM, Rolando SJ, Robinson BL, Roth NJ, Bockleman H. 1999. Digestibility characteristics of barley lines from the world collection in rats. Proc. West Sect. Amer. Soc. An Sci. 50:
- Blackhurst TC, Bowman JGP, Surber LMM, Milner TJ, Daniels TK, Blake TK. 1999. Feeding value of Lewis x Baronesse Recombinant Inbred Barley Lines for Finishing Steers. Proc. West Sect. Amer. Soc. An Sci. 50:
- Boss DL, Bowman JGP, Surber LMM, Anderson DC, Blake TK. 1999. Feeding value of two Lewis x Baronesse Recombinant Inbred Lines, LB13 and LB30, for Finishing Steers. Proc. West Sect. Amer. Soc. An Sci. 50:
- Surber LMM, Bowman JGP, Blake TK, Blackhurst TC, Rolando SJ. 1999. Variation in feed quality chatacteristics in the Lewis x Baronesse Recombinant Inbred Barley Lines. Proc. West Sect. Amer. Soc. An Sci. 50:
- Sayed-Tabatabaei B-E, Mano Y., Takaiwa F., Oka S., Blake TK, Komatsuda T. 1999 Sequence-Tagged-Sites for Barley Genome Mapping. Bull. Of the Nat. Ins. Of Agrobiological Resources (Japan) 13:11-22.
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Progress 01/01/98 to 12/31/98
Outputs
The year of 1998 was another banner year for the MSU barley breeding and genetics program. We successfully groomed a variety for release which was recommended by the MAES feedgrains recommendation panel for production throughout Montana. We developed technologies for improved automation in AFLP-based mapping and explored the barley genome using novel methylation-sensitive technologies.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Blake T.K., S.R. Larson, J. Eckhoff, and V. Kanazin. 1998. Avoiding Project Bankruptcy While Effectively Employing Markers. in: ASA,HSSA Joint Symposium on Heterosis, Indianapolis, In. Ed: K. Lamkey, Crop Science Society of America, Madison, WI pp. 99-108
- Larson S.R., K.A. Young, A. Cook, T.K. Blake, V. Raboy. 1998. Linkage Mapping of two mutations that reduce phytic acid content of barley grain. Theor. Appl. Genet. 97:141-146.
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Progress 01/01/97 to 12/31/97
Outputs
The barley improvement program set new milestone in 1997. 'Chinook' was awarded Plant Variety Protection no. 9600140, and is to our knowledge the first PVP's variety in which protection is based entirely upon molecular marker-based evidence of uniqueness. Our collaborative efforts with colleagues in Japan resulted in one publication and two submitted manuscripts, we successfully mapped and characterized genes modifying agronomic performance and grain quality in both 2-rowed and 6-rowed germplasm bases.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- BOROKOVNA, I.G., YIN, Y., STEFFENSON, B.J., KILIAN, A., BLAKE, T.K. and KLEINHOFS, A. 1997. Identification and mapping of a leaf rust resistance gene in barley line Q21861. Genome 40(2):236-241.
- BUROW, M.D. and BLAKE, T.K. 1997. Molecular tools for the study of complex traits. p. 13-31. In Molecular analysis of complex traits.
- BLAKE, T.K., LARSON, S., ECKHOFF, J. and KANAZIN, V. 1997. Avoiding project bankruptcy while effectively employing markers. In K. Lamkey (ed.) ASA-HSSA Joint Symp. on heterosis, Indianapolis, IN. CSSA,
- LARSON, S., HABERNICHT, D., ADAMSON, M. and BLAKE, T. 1997. Backcross gains for six-rowed grain and malt quality with introgression of a feed barley yield QTL. J. Am. Soc. Brew. Chem. 55(2):52-57.
- SAYED-TABATABAEI, B.E., MANY, Y., BLAKE, T., TAKAIWA, F., OKA, S. and KOMATSUDA, T. 1997. STS markers appropriate for the RI lines of Azumamugi/Kanto Nakate Gold. Japan Soc. Brdg. In press.
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Progress 01/01/96 to 12/30/96
Outputs
The barley improvement project set new milestones in 1996. 'Chinook' spring barley was successfully released to commercial barley producers with recommendation as a malting barley for production in the western United States by the American Malting Barley Association. Varietal protection has been sought. We contributed to the worldwide barley genome analysis effort, and maintained an aggressive publishing program.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Tinker, N.A., Blake T.K., et al. 1996. Regions of the genome that affect agronomic performance in two-rowed barley. Crop Sci. 36:1053-1062.
- Blake T.K., et al. 1996. Registration of 'Chinook' barley. Crop Sci. 36(3):809-810.
- Hayes P.M., Blake, T.K., et al. 1996. The Dicktoo-Morex population. Plant cold hardiness. Plenum Press, New York. Li, P.H. and Chen, T.H. (ed).
- Kanazin, V., Blake, T., and Shoemaker, R. 1996. Organization of the histone H3 genes in soybean, barley & wheat. Molec. Gen. Genet. 250:137-147.
- Hayes, P., Prehn, D., et al. 1996. Multiple disease resistance loci & relationship to agronomic & quality loci-spring barley population. JQTL. 2(2) http://probe.nalusda.gov:8000/ otherdocs/jqtl.
- Larson, S., Bryan, G., et al. 1996. Eval. gene effects of a major barley seed dormancy QTL in reciprocal backcross populations. JQTL. 2(4) http://probe.nalusda.gov:8000/otherdocs/jqtl.
- Erpelding, J., Blake, N.K., Blake, T.K., et al. 1996. Transfer of sequence tagged site PCR markers between wheat & barley. Genome 39:802-810.
- Larson, S., McDonald, C., Blake, T.K., et al. 1996. Evaluation of barley chromosome 3 yield QTL in a backcross F2 Population using PCR-STS markers. Theor. Appl. Genetics 93:618-625.
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Progress 01/01/95 to 12/30/95
Outputs
The MAES barley breeding and genetics project enjoyed another stress-filled, productive year of barley improvement. We released a new 2-rowed barley variety which has achieved recommendation as a malting barley by the American Malting Barley Association, we characterized varietal variation in roots' ability to resume water transport after drought stress, and we published several papers and reports detailing molecular marker development and QTL analysis.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
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Progress 01/01/94 to 12/30/94
Outputs
With the recommendation of 'Chinook' barley for production as a malting barley in Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon by the American Malting Barley Assoc., the MAES barley improvement program demonstrated its practical value to regional barley producers. We have completed the conversion of over 200 mapped RFLP markers to sequence-tagged-sites, and have made aliquots of primers for these markers available to small grains breeders and geneticists worldwide. Our marker-assisted selection program demonstrated the value of the Ras gene on barley chromosome 3 in terms of grain yield and head retention. Our feed barley quality improvement program identified the first genes thus far implicated in variation in ruminant feed/gain ratio and carcass quality.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
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Progress 01/01/93 to 12/30/93
Outputs
The MSU/MAES barley breeding and genetics program has advanced to recommendationfor release two new barley cultivars which are scheduled to be released to barley producers in the spring of 1995. We have also enjoyed success in the development of practically useful molecular marker technologies. These resulted in several publications and their use enabled our project to map the location of two genes modifying tolerance to Russian wheat aphid (Diuraphis noxia). We collaborated and contributed to the development of the world's best barley genome map and provided much of the data and analyses utilized in the barley collaborative quantitative trait locus mapping effort.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
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Progress 01/01/92 to 12/30/92
Outputs
The MSU barley breeding and genetics program published one dissertation and several papers on the development and use of molecular markers in quantitative trait locus analysis and marker assisted selection. We continued to improve the malting barley germplasm base for the producers of Montana, and readied feed and food barley lines for release.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
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Progress 01/01/91 to 12/30/91
Outputs
The MSU barley breeding and genetics program published the first general analysis of quantitative trait loci in barley and cooperated in the publication of a report on relatedness among North American barley cultivars based on coefficient of common parentage. As a member of a large consortium of laboratories, we reported on the most comprehensive barley genetic map at the Sixth International Barley Genetics Symposium. We also identified the location of a group of four genes which appear to be responsible for a large proportion (>50%) of the variation in cold tolerance among lines in a winter x spring barley cross. Our breeding program generated feed, food and malting barley lines with significant performance gains over currently grown varieties.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
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Progress 01/01/90 to 12/30/90
Outputs
The MSU barley breeding and genetics program bore partial responsibility for therelease of 'Bearpaw', a two-rowed dryland malting barley variety and primary responsibility for the release of 'Shonkin', the first public release of a hull-less waxy barley variety in the U. S. Also released was 'Wanubet', a hull-less waxy germplasm for use in varietal development by our colleagues. We published the first reasonably comprehensive RFLP map of barley, compared the utility of F2 and H. bulbosum derived dihaploid lines for map construction and found the bulbosum derived dihaploids to be superior based on the normality of segregation across loci. We have submitted the first broad analysis of quantitative trait loci in barley and have identified the location of fairly major genes modifying several characters including grain fiber and protein content, yield, canopy temperature, flowering date and plant height.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
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Progress 01/01/89 to 12/30/89
Outputs
The MSU Barley Breeding and Genetics Program assisted in the release of Bearpaw,a 2-rowed malting and feed cultivar, published the first multi-chromosome RFLP map for barley, and applied polymerase chain reaction sequence amplification to both single locus segregation analysis and dispersed repetitive element based interspecific genetic distance estimation.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
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Progress 01/01/88 to 12/30/88
Outputs
The MSU Barley Breeding and Genetics Project has accomplished several of previously stated goals in 1988. We released 16 mapped genomic and cDNA clones which identify intercultivar variation and performed our first QTL analysis. In order to improve our technical capabilities, we performed a chloroplast genome mapping experiment involving alfalfa chloroplast mutants. We successfully characterized nucleotide level mutations associated with albino and chlorina phenotypes and described the physiological basis underlying these phenotypes.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
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Progress 01/01/87 to 12/30/87
Outputs
The Montana State University Barley Breeding and Genetics Project has had a number of successes this year. In terms of applied breeding, we have advanced several barley lines with desirable production characteristics through their second year of statewide tests. These include two lines with excellent malting quality, MT851005, and MT851031, and two with excellent yield potential, MT851012 and MT851195. Our winter barley population evaluation project has demonstrated that Male Sterile Facilitated Recurrent Selection Populations of winter barley selected for winter survival in Montana over 20-year period did respond to selection. The best year in this group showed a mean survival over 10 location years which was equal to Schuyler, a hardy winter barley cultivar. We plan to characterize changes in gene frequencies at four isozyme, two storage protein, and ten RFLP loci in initial, mid and high survival timepoints for this population. The RFLP mapping effort has yielded 30
informative probes which identify allelic variation in cultivated barley. We have evaluated genetic variation at two loci for 26 cultivars and found it to be large.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
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Progress 01/01/86 to 12/30/86
Outputs
The barley breeding project continued the process of developing spring barley genotypes adapted to Montana. In 1986, over 200 crosses were made 3000 F3 lines evaluated 250 F4 lines tested for yield and quality in three radically different environments, 64 F5 lines evaluated at 6 locations, and 64 advanced lines and cultivars tested at 11 dryland and irrigated sites. Sixteen recommended cultivars were tested at over 40 off-station locations covering the range of environments found in Montana. The barley genetic program continued to show signs of progress with two refereed publications. We demonstrated that an agravitropic mutant of barley (agr) was unresponsive to exogenously applied IAA, while still responsive to synthetic auxins. We also evaluated the role of variation in ribonuclease isozyme profiles in seedlings and developing plants of hardy and sensitive winter barley cultivars.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
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Progress 10/01/84 to 09/30/85
Outputs
Both cytoplasmic and nuclear genes are important in cultivar development. An estimation of the level of currently available diversity is a prerequisite to efficient use of our germplasm. We have found little detectable variation in mitochondrial genomes in the major gene pools contributing to cultivated barley through the use of restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and Southern blot analysis (Blake et al., submitted). This finding parallels the work of other groups testing chloroplast diversity in cultivated barley. Substantial diversity remains unexploited in wild barley accessions. A mutation conferring root agravitropism has been found to be controlled by a simple Mendelian recessive, and indications suggest that altered sensitivity to IAA is involved in the phenotype. Methods for genome mapping by RFLP analysis are under development.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
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