GrainsWest Winter 2021

Winter 2021 Grains West 38 Above, AAFC molecular genetics technician Cam Barlow collects leaf tissue samples of durum seedlings for DNA extraction and marker analysis. The durum spike at right displays the salmon colour characteristic of Fusarium infection. FEATURE he improvement of Fusarium head blight (FHB) resistance in durum wheat varieties is no easy task, but progress has been made in recent years. Varieties with improved resistance are in the breeding pipeline. The development of FHB resistance in durum is a complex challenge, said Curtis Pozniak, director of the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre (CDC). He holds the university’s chair for the Strategic Research Program in Durum and High Yield Wheat Breeding and Genetics. The search for FHB resistance also involves researchers at CDC and several Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) research centres across Western Canada. Pozniak said it is unlikely we will see complete resistance to FHB in the short-term. The centre screens durum germplasm from around the world. Each year, it has also adopted new genomic technology and evaluates thousands of lines of traditionally cross-bred durum in disease nurseries across Western Canada. The identification of promising lines brings improved resistance closer. In fact, AAFC durum breeder Yuefeng Ruan at the Swift Current Research and Development Centre said, in pre- registration lines of durum, he sees at least seven that show improvement in FHB resistance. Plenty of evaluation remains to be done prior to registration, but it is encouraging. The hope is to identify more lines that could be rated moderately susceptible or intermediate, but time will tell. FHB, primarily caused by Fusarium graminearum , has been on the radar of Western Canadian farmers and crop researchers for more than three decades. Ron Knox a plant pathologist and geneticist with AAFC in Swift Current, said Manitoba farmers were major producers of durum until the arrival of FHB eventually ended its production. “There were a number of factors at play,” said Knox. “Disease prevalence is highly influenced by the environment, particularly moist growing conditions, durum wheat is highly susceptible to the disease and there was also a change in T BY LEE HART The development of resistant varieties is a complex challenge FHB RESISTANCE INDURUM AWORK IN PROGRESS Photo:Laboratoryphotocourtesyof CamBarlow.DurumspikecourtesyofRonKnox