Source: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS submitted to NRP
WHEAT BREEDING AND MOLECULAR GENETICS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1013394
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Oct 1, 2017
Project End Date
Sep 30, 2022
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS
410 MRAK HALL
DAVIS,CA 95616-8671
Performing Department
Plant Sciences
Non Technical Summary
This project supports the mission of the Agricultural Experiment Station by addressing the Hatch Act area(s) of: plant and animal production, protection, and health; human nutrition; sustainable agriculture; biotechnology. Wheat is an important rotation crop in California. An average of 500,000 acres of wheat is grown every year in California. The continuous evolution of wheat pathogens requires a continuous breeding effort to maintain a viable wheat crop in California. The incorporation of new resistance genes will reduce the requirements of pesticides resulting in a direct benefit to the environment. In addition, continuous increases in yield and quality are required to maintain the competitiveness of California wheat growers. The release of new varieties with better yield, increased nutritional value and improved quality is an efficient way to transfer the value of research to the growers and end users.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
2011541108010%
2011544108010%
2011545108010%
5021541108010%
5021544108010%
5021545108010%
2011541108115%
2011544108115%
2011545108110%
Goals / Objectives
The overall objective of this project is to developed new durum and common wheat germplasm and varieties with improved disease resistance and end-use quality adapted to different California environments. Particular emphasis is placed on the selection and pyramiding of new sources of resistance to septoria tritici blotch, leaf rust, and stripe rust, including race-specific and non-race specific genes. Our main targets in the area of end-use characteristics are increased protein content and gluten strength and high falling numbers for the for the common wheat; and increase semolina color, protein content, and gluten strength for the durum wheats. Another important target in the durum program is the introgresion of the Cdu1 gene to reduce cadmium content in the grain. In both durum and common wheat we will introgress gene to increase grain size and grain number and to increase the levels of resistant starch (a dietary fiber).The specific objectives are as follows: Objective 1: Introduce new genetic variability to incorporate new sources of disease resistance to stripe rust, stem rust, leaf rust and septoria tritici blotch and increase end use quality characteristics and yield potential. Objective 2: Create new variable populations of common and durum wheat by hybridization, select the best lines from the segregating populations, and evaluate the selected progenies for quality and performance in production areas of California. Objective 3: Determine the genetic basis for traits affecting disease resistance and end-use quality and develop markers to introduce these genes into adapted California lines. Collaborate with the private sector in the use of this information and tools to improve both public and private varieties. Objective 4: Increase the seed of new promising lines to perform more extensive testing and for distribution to other breeding programs. Select pure seed of the best lines to produce Breeders Seed, and send that seed to the Foundation Seed Program.
Project Methods
PROCEDURES FOR OBJECTIVE 1: Approximately 1000 advanced lines of common wheat and durum wheat from CIMMYT and other parts of the world are introduced every year and planted under quarantine at Davis. The following year these lines are evaluated in the field at UCD in observation plots. PROCEDURES FOR OBJECTIVE 2: Every year we produce 200 new crosses among our best lines to generate new allelic combinations. These 200 families are advanced to F2 in Tulelake and then advanced to F6 as bulk populations or individual headrows depending on the crosses and breeding objectives. The best F6 and F7 lines are harvested in bulk and advanced to a small observation plot. Observation plots are selected by agronomic characteristics and yield. The best lines are analyzed for protein content and the best lines are advanced to preliminary yield trials. A preliminary screening of gluten strength by SDS sedimentation is done at this stage. Three types of yield trials will be grown. "Preliminary" and "Advanced" experiments will be grown only at Davis. The best lines will be included in "Elite" experiments at three locations. The best lines will be evaluated in the statewide regional Cooperative Extension trials for potential release. Selection of the more advanced yield trials will be complemented by full quality tests.PROCEDURES FOR OBJECTIVE 3. The conventional breeding effort is integrated with a marker assisted (MAS) breeding program. Every year we perform approximately 5000 DNA and marker analysis to incorporate genes for resistance to stripe rust (Yr5, Yr15, Yr18, Yr78 and Yr36), septoria tritici blotch (Stb4and Stb7) and to leaf rust (Lr34, Lr37, Lr48). In the area of quality we focus on molecular markers for gluten strength and grain protein content. In the area of gluten strength we use protein high molecular weight glutenins markers. An additional target for gluten strength improvement will be the high molecular weight glutenin allele Bx7OE from `Glenlea'. In the durum lines we will introgress the 2+12 subunits from hexaploid wheat to improve gluten strength. In the area of grain protein content we will continue with the introgression of the high-grain protein content gene from T. dicoccoides using a perfect marker for the gene, which was cloned in our laboratory. In the area of nutrition we will incorporate the allele for low cadmium of the Cdu1 gene and the mutation in the different SbeIIa and b genes to increase the levels of resistant starch in the grain.PROCEDURES FOR OBJECTIVE 4: As lines are advanced in the breeding program through yield tests, each line is represented by progeny rows that are also advanced by selection each year. Thus, when lines are selected for potential release there is a ready source of pure seed that can be used to produce breeder seeds. Lines having important trait combinations, but not released, are maintained in a gene bank as "posterity" samples that can be drawn for use in future breeding. Seed produced from head rows of varieties approved for release by the UC Genetic Release Committee is given to the Foundation Seed Project for multiplication and distribution to seed growers.

Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20

Outputs
Target Audience:The targeted audience of this project includes wheat scientists, wheat breeders, wheat growers, millers and bakers. The results from this project were presented to the targeted audience in field days and local meetings of growers and farm advisors, and in the Quality Collaborative meeting to the milling and backing industry. The germplasm and varieties developed by this project are publicly available and are being used extensively by California growers and as parental lines in other public and private wheat breeding programs. The wheat varieties developed by UC Davis and in UCD collaborations with private companies covered 48% of the wheat acreage in California, in 2019 and reach a large number of wheat growers. Changes/Problems:The COVID 19 has delayed several project and resulted in lost materials, populations and important crosses. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In 2019 and 2020 this project trained three UC Davis PhD students and 1 international PhD students in plant breeding. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Our varieties are tested in regional trials that reach the California wheat industry though an annual agronomy progress report that presents detailed yield, diseases, and quality information across multiple locations across California. Papers generated by our laboratory and breeding program were referred more than 1500 times during 2019 and 2020 6 (total 33,000 cross-references in Google scholar) documenting the impact of our research. New varieties are presented to growers in field days. In addition, wheat varieties developed by UC-Davis or by UC-Davis in collaboration with industry covered 48% of the wheat acreage in California in 2019 reaching many growers. So our knowledge and improvements are mainly as seeds of better varieties in addition to papers, conferences and field days. The molecular markers for agronomic and disease resistance trait are disseminated through the MASWheat site. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue our focus on the development of wheat varieties with improved yield, disease resistance and quality. In the durum program we will continue our emphasis on the development of low cadmium varieties and we will continue the introgression of mutations for increase resistant starch. In the common wheat program, we will continue our emphasis on stripe rust and septoria tritici resistance, high yield potential and excellent bread making quality

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Variety releases: A new hard white spring variety named UC-Amarillo was released in 2019 and a PVP application was completed. UC-Amarillo (UC1909) is a high yielding hard white spring variety with a unique yellow flour. Selection for white flour for thousands of years resulted in the loss of function of the critical PSY1 enzyme in the carotenoid pathway. We have restored a functional PSY1 gene in UC-Amarillo resulting in carotenoid pigments in the flour, which gives it its characteristic yellow color. UC-Amarillo performs very well agronomically in all areas where it has been evaluated in California. UC-Amarillo is well suited for the Sacramento, San Joaquin and Imperial Valleys where it shows high yield potential under irrigation. UC-Amarillo carries resistance genes for stripe rust (Yr5, Yr15, Yr17 and Yr36), leaf rust (Lr37 and Lr19) and stem rust (Sr25 and Sr38) and exhibits good resistance to the major pathogens found in California. Its primary use is for artisan or specialty bread production. UC-Amarillo carries the Glu-D1 subunits 5+10 for strong gluten and the high grain protein allele Gpc-B1, and exhibits an excellent breadmaking quality. Foundation seed: Foundation seed of the new hard white spring variety UC-Amarillo was produced in 2019. 1500 lb of seed is available at the Foundation Seed Program. Breeder seed: New breeder seed of the varieties: UC-Amarillo, UC-Patwin-RS, UC-Desert King-RS, Patwin-515HP, UC-Desert Gold, UC-Central Red and Patwin were produced in 2019 and delivered to the Foundation Seed Program. Regional trials Common wheat: Three hard red spring wheat lines UC1880, UC1882 and UC1908; and three hard white spring wheat lines UC1839, UC1907 and 1909, were include in the 2019 regional trial. All these lines showed good yield performance and good bread making quality when they were evaluated in the 2018 elite yield trial. Durum wheat: Four durum wheat lines UC1771, UC1870, UC1871 and UC1910 were included in the 2019 regional trial. All these lines had good yield performance and good pasta quality when they were evaluated in the 2018 elite yield trial. Quality Collaborators Program: Two hard white spring wheat lines UC1839 and UC1909 which is now UC-Amarillo; one hard red spring line UC1882 and two durum wheat lines UC1870 and UC1910 were included in the 2019 collaborative testing program. UC1839 was scored as the best for tortilla but not for bread. UC1909 was scored as the best for bread. UC1870 had better score than UC1910 for pasta quality. Yield trials: 370 lines of common wheat and 268 lines of durum wheat were evaluated in elite, advanced, and preliminary yield trials in 2019. The lines were scored in field for: heading days, plant height, lodging, and reaction to the main field diseases (septoria and stripe rust). After harvest, grain yield performance and grin protein content were measured. Based on the parameters mentioned above, 253 lines of common wheat and 117 lines of durum wheat were selected to continue their evaluation in 2020. From the selected lines, grain samples of 47 lines of common wheat and 38 lines of durum wheat were send to the CWC Quality Laboratory for a complete quality analysis. Based on the quality data, six lines of common wheat were advanced to the 2020 regional trial and 15 lines were advanced to the 2020 elite yield trial. Four lines of durum wheat were advanced to the 2020 regional trial and 15 lines were advanced to the 2020 elite yield trial. Observation plots: 754 lines of common wheat and 227 lines of durum wheat were evaluated in observation plots in 2019. The lines were scored in field for: heading days, plant height, lodging, and reaction to the main field diseases (septoria and stripe rust). After harvest, grain yield performance and protein content of the grain were measured. Based on the parameters mentioned above, 271 lines of common wheat and 95 lines of durum wheat were selected to continue their evaluation in 2020. Addition of new hybrids and segregating populations: 153 crosses among common wheat and 40 crosses among durum wheat were made during the winter of 2019. The F1 generations were planted at Tulelake during the summer 2019. The F2 to F4 segregating generations had 274 populations of common wheat and 180 populations of durum wheat were planted and evaluated in the field in 2019. The selection in the field was based on the agronomic characteristics, reaction to the main diseases (septoria, stripe rust, and BYD). One spike from each selected plant within each population was harvested and threshed in bulk and the seed was the source to plant the next generation in 2020. The F5 segregating generation had 55 populations of common wheat and 47 populations of durum wheat. The selection in the field was based on the agronomic characteristics, reaction to the main diseases (septoria, stripe rust, and BYD). One spike from each selected plant within each population was harvested and threshed individually and then selected for grain appearance (shape, size and plump). A total of 932 lines of common wheat and 363 lines of durum wheat were selected and planted as head to row as F6 families in 2020. The F6 segregating generation had 55 families (1835 lines) of common wheat and 45 families (1439 lines) of durum wheat. The selection in the field was made between and within sister lines based on the agronomic characteristics, reaction to the main diseases (septoria, stripe rust, and BYD). Three spikes from each selected row were harvested and threshed individually and then selected for grain appearance (shape, size and plump). The seed was used to plant a three row plot in 2020. A total of 513 lines of common wheat and 374 lines of durum wheat were selected and planted as observation plots in 2020.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Shaw, L., B. Lyu, R. Turner, C. Li, F. Chen, X. Han, D. Fu, and J. Dubcovsky. 2019. FLOWERING LOCUS T2 (FT2) regulates spike development and fertility in temperate cereals. J. of Exp. Bot. 70: 193-204.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kuzay, S., Y. Xu, J. Zhang, A. Katz, S. Pearce, Z. Su, M. Fraser, J. A. Anderson, G. Brown-Guedira, N. DeWitt, A. Peters Haugrud, J.D. Faris, E. Akhunov, G. Bai, J. Dubcovsky. 2019. Identification of a candidate gene for a QTL for spikelet number per spike on wheat chromosome arm 7AL by high-resolution genetic mapping. Theor. Appl. Genet. 132:2689-2705
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Chen, S., M. N. Rouse, W. Zhang, X. Zhang, Y. Guo, J. Briggs, J. Dubcovsky. 2020. Wheat gene Sr60 encodes a protein with two putative kinase domains that confers resistance to stem rust. New Phytologists. 225: 948959.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Zhang, Y., A. Schonhofen, W. Zhang, J. Hegarty, C. Carter, T. Vang , D. Laudencia-Chingcuanco and J. Dubcovsky, Contributions of individual and combined Glu-B1x and Glu-B1y high-molecular-weight glutenin subunits to semolina functionality and pasta quality. Journal of Cereal Science 93: 102943 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcs.2020.102943


Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19

Outputs
Target Audience:The targeted audience of this project includes private wheat scientists, wheat breeders, wheat growers, millers and bakers. California growers use extensively the wheat varieties developed by UC Davis and by collaboration between UC Davis and private companies, which cover ~48% of the 300,000 acres of wheat planted in California. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During 2019the UC Davis breeding program provided training to threePhD students and two undergraduate students. The project also provided training to one postdoctoral researcher and a visiting scientist. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results from this project were presented to the targeted audience in field days and local meetings of growers and farm advisors, and in the Quality Collaborative meeting to the milling and backing industry. The germplasm and varieties developed by this project are publicly available and are used extensively by California growers and as parental lines in other public and private wheat breeding programs. The wheat varieties developed by UC Davisand in UCD collaborations with private companies cover 48% of the wheat acreage in California, and reach a large number of wheat growers. Results were alsodisseminated byscientific meetings and by publications in scientific journals. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next period we will continue the development of common and durum wheat varieties adapted to different California environments. To do this we will 1) Introduce new sources of disease resistance, improved yield, end-use quality and nutritional characteristics. 2) Create new segregating populations by hybridization and select the best lines using field-based selection. 3) Determine the genetic and developmental basis of grain yield and disease resistance and develop molecular markers to accelerate the deployment of favorable alleles into breeding lines. 4) Produce Breeder's seed of lines targeted for variety release. The field-based selection program will be complemented by marker-assisted selection to accelerate the introgression of novel genes associated with increased yield (grain size and grain number) and resistance to stripe rust and stem rust in common wheat. We will continue the introgression of genes associated to increased grain weight and grain number in both common and durum wheat. We will start combining those genes in genotypes with increased biomass. In the area of durum wheat quality, we will continue the deployment of the low cadmium gene Cdu1 and genes for improved pasta color and gluten strength. In the area of common wheat quality, we will continue the deployment of new alleles for increased grain protein content, improved gluten strength and reduced gluten allergenicity. In both durum and common wheat, we will continue the development of additional varieties with increased resistant starch.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Foundation seed: Foundation seed of the new hard white spring variety UC-Amarillo was produced in 2019. 1500 lb of seed is available at the Foundation Seed Program. Breeder seed: New breeder seed of the varieties: UC-Amarillo, UC-Patwin-RS, UC-Desert King-RS, Patwin-515HP, UC-Desert Gold, UC-Central Red and Patwin were produced in 2019 and delivered to the Foundation Seed Program. Regional trials Common wheat: Three hard red spring wheat lines UC1880, UC1882 and UC1908; and three hard white spring wheat lines UC1839, UC1907 and 1909, were include in the 2019 regional trial. All these lines showed good yield performance and good bread making quality when they were evaluated in the 2018 elite yield trial. Durum wheat: Four durum wheat lines UC1771, UC1870, UC1871 and UC1910 were included in the 2019 regional trial. All these lines had good yield performance and good pasta quality when they were evaluated in the 2018 elite yield trial. Quality Collaborators Program: Two hard white spring wheat lines UC1839 and UC1909 which is now UC-Amarillo; one hard red spring line UC1882 and two durum wheat lines UC1870 and UC1910 were included in the 2019 collaborative testing program. UC1839 was scored as the best for tortilla but not for bread. UC1909 was scored as the best for bread. UC1870 had better score than UC1910 for pasta quality. Yield trials: 370 lines of common wheat and 268 lines of durum wheat were evaluated in elite, advanced, and preliminary yield trials in 2019. The lines were scored in field for: heading days, plant height, lodging, and reaction to the main field diseases (septoria and stripe rust). After harvest, grain yield performance and grin protein content were measured. Based on the parameters mentioned above, 253 lines of common wheat and 117 lines of durum wheat were selected to continue their evaluation in 2020. From the selected lines, grain samples of 47 lines of common wheat and 38 lines of durum wheat were send to the CWC Quality Laboratory for a complete quality analysis. Based on the quality data, six lines of common wheat were advanced to the 2020 regional trial and 15 lines were advanced to the 2020 elite yield trial. Four lines of durum wheat were advanced to the 2020 regional trial and 15 lines were advanced to the 2020 elite yield trial. Observation plots: 754 lines of common wheat and 227 lines of durum wheat were evaluated in observation plots in 2019. The lines were scored in field for: heading days, plant height, lodging, and reaction to the main field diseases (septoria and stripe rust). After harvest, grain yield performance and protein content of the grain were measured. Based on the parameters mentioned above, 271 lines of common wheat and 95 lines of durum wheat were selected to continue their evaluation in 2020. Addition of new hybrids and segregating populations: 153 crosses among common wheat and 40 crosses among durum wheat were made during the winter of 2019. The F1 generations were planted at Tulelake during the summer 2019. The F2 to F4 segregating generations had 274 populations of common wheat and 180 populations of durum wheat were planted and evaluated in the field in 2019. The selection in the field was based on the agronomic characteristics, reaction to the main diseases (septoria, stripe rust, and BYD). One spike from each selected plant within each population was harvested and threshed in bulk and the seed was the source to plant the next generation in 2020. The F5 segregating generation had 55 populations of common wheat and 47 populations of durum wheat. The selection in the field was based on the agronomic characteristics, reaction to the main diseases (septoria, stripe rust, and BYD). One spike from each selected plant within each population was harvested and threshed individually and then selected for grain appearance (shape, size and plump). A total of 932 lines of common wheat and 363 lines of durum wheat were selected and planted as head to row as F6 families in 2020. The F6 segregating generation had 55 families (1835 lines) of common wheat and 45 families (1439 lines) of durum wheat. The selection in the field was made between and within sister lines based on the agronomic characteristics, reaction to the main diseases (septoria, stripe rust, and BYD). Three spikes from each selected row were harvested and threshed individually and then selected for grain appearance (shape, size and plump). The seed was used to plant a three row plot in 2020. A total of 513 lines of common wheat and 374 lines of durum wheat were selected and planted as observation plots in 2020.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kuzay, S., Y. Xu, J. Zhang, A. Katz, S. Pearce, Z. Su, M. Fraser, J. A. Anderson, G. Brown-Guedira, N. DeWitt, A. Peters Haugrud, J.D. Faris, E. Akhunov, G. Bai, J. Dubcovsky. 2019. Identification of a candidate gene for a QTL for spikelet number per spike on wheat chromosome arm 7AL by high-resolution genetic mapping. Theor. Appl. Genet. 132:2689-2705
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Blake N.K., M. Pumphrey, K. Glover, S. Chao, K. Jordan, J. L. Jannick, E. A. Akhunov, J. Dubcovsky, H. Bockelman, L.E. Talbert. 2019. Registration of the Triticeae-CAP spring wheat nested association-mapping population. J Plant Registration. 13:294-297


Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18

Outputs
Target Audience:The targeted audience of this project includes private wheat scientists, wheat breeders, wheat growers, millers and bakers. California growers use extensively the wheat varieties developed by UC Davis and by collaboration between UC Davis and private companies, which cover more than 150, 000 acres (~42% of the wheat acreage in California). Changes/Problems:No major changes or problems. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During 2018 the UC Davis breeding program provided training to four PhD students, two of which completed their PhD program and are now working as breeders and two that are still completing their training. The project provided training to one postdoctoral researcher and a visiting scientist. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results from this project were presented to the targeted audience in field days and local meetings of growers and farm advisors, and in the Quality Collaborative meeting to the milling and backing industry. The germplasm and varieties developed by this project are publicly available and are used extensively by California growers and as parental lines in other public and private wheat breeding programs. The wheat varieties developed by UC Davisand in UCD collaborations with private companies cover more than 150, 000 acres (~42% of the wheat acreage in California, http://californiawheat.org/uploads/resources/898/vs-2018-report.pdf) and reach a large number of wheat growers. Results were alsodisseminated byscientific meetings and by publications in scientific journals. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next period we will continue the development of common and durum wheat varieties adapted to different California environments. To do this we will 1) Introduce new sources of disease resistance, improved yield, end-use quality and nutritional characteristics. 2) Create new segregating populations by hybridization and select the best lines using field-based selection. 3) Determine the genetic and developmental basis of grain yield and disease resistance and develop molecular markers to accelerate the deployment of favorable alleles into breeding lines. 4) Produce Breeder's seed of lines targeted for variety release. The field-based selection program will be complemented by marker-assisted selection to accelerate the introgression of novel genes associated with increased yield (grain size and grain number) and resistance to stripe rust and stem rust in common wheat. We will continue the introgression of genes associated to increased grain weight and grain in both common and durum wheat. We will start combining those genes in genotypes with increased biomass. In the area of durum wheat quality, we will continue the deployment of the low cadmium gene Cdu1 and genes for improved pasta color and gluten strength. In the area of common wheat quality, we will continue the deployment of new alleles for increased grain protein content, improved gluten strength and reduced gluten allergenicity. In both durum and common wheat, we will continue the development of additional varieties with increased resistant starch.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Variety releases: Varieties UC-Central Red and UC-Desert Gold were submitted for PVP. Foundation seed of the following new varieties were produced in 2018: UC-Central Red (11,162 lb), UC-Lassik-RS (6,450 lb), UC-Patwin-RS (8,297 lb), UC-Desert King-RS (9,617 lb) and UC-Desert Gold (14,725 lb). Breeder seed of UC11075+10 515 2NS Lr19/yellow pigment was produced in 2018. Regional trials Common wheat: Five new hard red spring wheat lines UC1879, UC1880, UC1882, UC1884 and UC1885; and two hard white spring wheat lines UC1881 and UC1883, were included in the 2018 regional trial based of their high yield performance and good bread making quality. Durum wheat: Four durum wheat lines UC1870, UC1871, UC1872 and UC1873 were included in the 2018 regional trial. All these lines showed good yield performance and good pasta quality in the elites yield trials from the previous year. Quality Collaborators Program: Three hard red spring wheat lines UC1817 'Central Red', UC1879 Yecora Rojo-515 and UC1881 and one hard white spring line UC1815 were include in the 2018 collaborative testing program. All four lines received excellent scores for bread-making quality. UC-Central Red was also one of the best lines for tortillas. Yield trials: 450 lines of common wheat and 192 lines of durum wheat were evaluated in elite, advanced, and preliminary yield trials in 2018. Grain samples from the best 57 lines of common wheat and 43 lines of durum wheat were sent to the CWC Quality Laboratory for a complete quality analysis. The best six lines of common wheat were included in the 2019 regional trial, 22 lines were included in the elite yield trial and 90 in the advance yield trial. The best four lines of durum wheat were included in the 2019 regional trial and 21 lines were included in the elite yield trial. Observation plots: 520 lines of common wheat and 255 lines of durum wheat were evaluated in observation plots in 2018. After selection for agronomic characteristics, yield performance and protein content of the grain; 253 lines of common wheat and 231 lines of durum wheat were selected and are now being evaluated in the 2019 preliminary yield trials. Addition of new hybrids and segregating populations: 100 crosses were make among common wheat and 52 crosses were make among durum wheat in the winter of 2018. The F1 generation was plant at Tulelake during the summer 2018. The F2 to F6 segregating lines included 359 populations of common wheat and 257 populations of durum wheat that were planted and evaluated in the field in 2018. After selection for agronomic characteristics, disease resistance, and grain appearance, 384 segregating populations of common wheat and 272 segregating populations of durum wheat were selected for evaluation in 2019. Organic Wheat Testing Program Nineteen advanced breeding lines, four common wheat varieties (Lassik, Yurok, Patwin-515HP and UC-Central Red), and two of durum wheat varieties (Desert King and UC-Desert Gold) were tested with the help of Allison Krill-Brown under organic practices. Four lines of common wheat were drop for showing low weed tolerance score. The remaining 14 advanced breeding lines and the 6 varieties will be retested in 2019. The advanced breeding line 17014/15 'UC11075+10 515 2NS Lr19/yellow pigment' was select and was included in the 2019 regional trial as UC1909. Breeder seed of this line was produce in 2018 and foundation seed will be produce in 2019. Marker assisted selection summary Markers for yield: We performed the first yield trials for the gw-A2 and gw-B2 mutations that were previously associated with increases in grain weight. A large field trial was performed in collaboration with CIMMYT at Obregon (similar environment as Imperial Valley) both under drought and normal conditions. Under drought, we observed significant differences for both genes in grain weight with an 8.5% increase for the double mutant relative to the control. The double mutant also showed a significant increase in grain protein content (absolute increase of 0.5%). Under normal irrigation, we also detected significant differences in grain weight and grain protein for both genes with a 6.0% increase in yield for the lines with the two mutations relative to the wild type and a 0.4% absolute increase in grain protein content. The differences in total grain yield were not significant. We also combined the gw-A2 mutation for increased grain number with the Elf3Am1 gene transferred from diploid wheat Triticum monococcum accession DV92 for increased number of grains. Analysis of variance indicated the entries were significantly different for grain yield and kernel weight. The lines carrying the ELF3 allele from diploid wheat showed an 8.6% higher yield than the lines carrying the wild type allele. The lines carrying the gw-A2 mutation showed a 7% increase in kernel size. The line combining the ELF3 allele from diploid wheat and the gw-A2 mutation showed the highest yield, which was significantly higher that for the other three lines. We also evaluated a line including mutations for the ful-A2 and ful-B2 genes (henceforth, ful2-null) which was associated with increased number of spikelet per spike and florets per spikelet. Relative to the control, the ful2-null mutant produced 20% more spikelets per spike (P = 0.0002) and 9% more grains per spikelet (P= 0.05), which resulted in a 31% increase in the number of grains per spike (P = 0.0002). In this experiment, part of the positive effect on grain yield was offset by a 19% reduction in average kernel weight (P = 0.0012). In spite of these opposite trends, we observed a slight net increase of 6% in total grain weight per spike (P = 0.09). This negative correlation between grain number and grain weight suggest that in this particular genotype by environment combination grain yield was more limited by the "source" (produced and transported starch) than by the "sink" (number and size of grains). We completed the high density mapping for the 7AL QTL for spikelet number and defined a candidate region of 400 Kb with only seven candidate genes. We have initiated the validation process to determine which gene is responsible for the increase in spikelet and grain number. We have also planted an experiment in the field to validate the association of a polymorphism in the gene FUL3 with the number of spikelets per spike. Markers for quality: For the pasta wheat, we used markers to accelerate the introgression of genes associated with low cadmium (Cdu1) improved yellow pigment (PSY1) and color stability in pasta (LPX1.1), increased gluten strength (Glu-D12+12), and higher grain protein content (GPC-B1). For bread wheat, we used molecular markers to accelerate the introgression of a low molecular weight glutenin allele for improved gluten strength and elasticity and the 7BxOE allele for strong gluten. We initiated the evaluation of a new gene for improved dough elasticity and loaf volume designated wbm1. We combined mutations in the D genome for the SBEIIa and SBEIIb genes to develop a common wheat carrying six SBEII mutations to compare with our current lines carrying 5 mutations (UC-Desert King-RS, UC-Lassik-RS and UC-Patwin515-RS). Markers for disease resistance: We used molecular markers to introgress Yr5, Yr15, Yr36 and Yr78 in several of our breeding lines. We completed and published a QTL for stripe rust resistance that identified four new QTL for resistance to the races currently present in California. We developed a high density map for the adult plant resistance gene Yr29 and generated closely linked molecular markers that can be used efficiently to introgress this gene into our advanced breeding lines. Finally we completed the cloning of the stem rust resistance gene Sr21 that is effective against the virulent Ug99 races that is currently expanding its area in Africa and Asia.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Mo, Y., S. Pearce, J. Dubcovsky. 2018. Phenotype and transcriptome characterization of a wheat tall mutant carrying an induced mutation in the C-terminal PFYRE motif of RHT-B1b. BMC Plant Biology18:253.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Cobo, N., H. Wanjugi, E. Lagudah, J. Dubcovsky. 2018. High-resolution map of wheat QYr.ucw-1BL, an adult-plant stripe rust resistance locus in the same chromosomal region as Yr29. The Plant Genome. 12:180055. doi: 10.3835/plantgenome2018.08.0055
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Cobo, N., L. Pflüger, X. Chen, J. Dubcovsky. 2018. Mapping QTL for resistance to new virulent races of wheat stripe rust from two Argentinean wheat varieties. Crop Sci. 58(6):1-14 doi:10.2135/cropsci2018.04.0286
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Mo, Y., L.S. Vanzetti, I. Hale3, E.J. Spagnolo, F. Guidobaldi, J. Al-Oboudi, N. Odle, S. Pearce, M. Helguera, J. Dubcovsky. 2018. Identification and characterization of Rht25, a locus on chromosome arm 6AS affecting wheat plant height, heading time, and spike development. Theor Appl Genet 131:2021-2035
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Zhang, J., S.A. Gizaw, E. Bossolini, J. Hegarty, T. Howell, A.H. Carter, E. Akhunov, J. Dubcovsky. 2018. Identification and validation of QTL for grain yield and plant water status under contrasting water treatments in fall-sown spring wheats. Theor Appl Genet. 131: 1741⿿1759
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Godoy, J., S. Gizaw, S. Chao, N. Blake, A. Carter, R. Cuthbert, J. Dubcovsky, P. Hucl, K. Kephart, C. Pozniak, P.V. V. Prasad, M. Pumphrey, and L. Talbert. 2018. Genome-wide association study of agronomic traits in a spring-planted North American elite hard red spring wheat panel. Crop Science 58:1838-1852
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Chen, S., W. Zhang, S. Bolus, M.N. Rouse, J. Dubcovsky. 2018. Identification and characterization of wheat stem rust resistance gene Sr21 effective against the Ug99 race group. PLOS Genetics 14: e1007287
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Hegarty, J.M., I.A. del Blanco, L. Gallagher, J. Dubcovsky. 2018. Registration of ⿿UC Tahoe⿿, a California adapted two-rowed spring barley for craft-scale malting. Journal of Plant Registration 12:163-167.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Kippes, N., M. Guedira, L. Lin, G.L. Brown-Guedira and J. Dubcovsky. 2018. Single nucleotide polymorphisms in a regulatory site of VRN-A1 first intron are associated with differences in vernalization requirement in winter wheat. Molecular Genetics and Genomics. 293: 1231⿿124
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Chen, S., Y. Guo, J. Briggs, F. Dubach, S. Chao, W. Zhang, M.N. Rouse, J. Dubcovsky. 2018. Mapping and characterization of wheat stem rust resistance genes SrTm5 and Sr60 from Triticum monococcum Theor. Appl. Genet. 131: 625-635.