Barley is a very significant crop in Alberta. Acording to Statistic Canada,in 1996, there were about 2,390,000 million ha(5,900,000 acres) cultivated with this crop. This was 45% of the country's barley acreage and 48% of the barley acreage in western Canada. Estimated mean yield for Alberta was 3300 kg/ha (61.3 bu./acre) somewhat above the Canadian average of 3150 kg/ha, and about equal to 1995 mean yield in Alberta of 3331 kg/ha. For comparison, areas seeded to the other major field crops in Alberta were: spring wheat(except durum) 2,800,000 ha, canola 1,340,000 ha, oats 607,000 ha, durum wheat 324,000 ha,rye 40,500 ha, winter wheat 38,000 ha, and flax 20,000 ha.

On December 1st.,1996, Dr. Kequan XI joined the Lacombe Field Crop Development Centre as a Pathologist. He is working in barley pathology with Dr. T. Kelly Turkington, who obtained the Federal Pathologist position at Lacombe Research Centre of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Helm, Wolfe, Jedel,Turkington, XI, Stewart, Helberg, and Cortez attended the VII International Barley Genetics Symposium held during the summer of 1996 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. During this conference, the Alberta Barley Development group of Lacombe presented four poster papers.

A report by Patricia Jedel on 'Chemical Desication to Determine Stress Tolerance' is published in this volume of the Barley Newsletter.

Dr. K. Xi is publishing in this volume a study on "Determining resistance and susceptibility of barley cultivars at the seedling stage to net blotch, caused by Pyrenophora teres".

Xenia and Genetic Male Sterile assisted Reciprocal Recurrent Selection

Dr. Bob Wolfe is trying to create four populations genetically suitable for use in a breeding selection system that can be called Xenia and Genetic Male Sterile Assisted Reciprocal Recurrent Selection. Two of the populations are to be two-row and two six-row. For each of the two head row types, one population will have genetic male sterile 1, msg1, a yellow aleurone, and full or normal starch. The other population will have another genetic male sterile, a blue aleurone, and the shrunken endosperm, sex1. We need a minimum of several more generations to produce suitable blue aleuroned populations. The chief obstacle to their development currently seems to be the need to limit the contrasting aleurone color to only one gene, with one yellow allele and one blue.

Genetic Marker Stock Development

The genetic marker stock development work has largely come to a close. Three lines developed in this program are now in the Plant Gene Resources of Canada collection.

They are:

1) a doubled haploid master dominant, PGR27408

2) a doubled haploid master recessive, PGR27409

3) PGR27410, a near iso-genic or sister selection of PGR27408 with v and Lk instead of V and lk.

A number of multiple recessive lines carrying alleles specific for the several chromosomes in addition to what are already in PGR27409 will soon also be submitted to Plant Gene Resources of Canada. Dr. Mario Therrien of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Brandon, Manitoba has agreed to store and maintain small amounts of seed segregating for each of the seven genetic male steriles involved.

Run8

Work is underway to backcross the gene Run8, which conditions immunity to all currently known biotypes of loose smut in the field, into all our breeding material. We have our fingers crossed that the immunity of Run8 will hold up once there is a substantial area of Run8 Run8 cultivars grown in North America.

In 1996, one hundred six-rowed breeding lines were inoculated with loose smut using the needle and aqueous spore suspension technique. Six lines were identified free of this fungus. Those populations were probably homozygous for the Run8 gene. Crosses were made using four of these lines to incorporate inmunity to loose smut into six-rowed hulled material. Similar methodology is being used this year to incorporate this smut resistance into hulless two-row and hulless six-row material.

Two thousand advanced breeding lines were screened for scald and net blotch resistance. Despite low scald incidence in the Edmonton site, there were good field ratings in the other locations in Alberta. A net blotch screen evaluation was done at AAFC-Brandon.

Continuing with the development of two-row malting varieties, 17 populations were produced from the single seed descent procedure. These populations(2086 head-rows)were grown during the winter in California and in the summer in Lacombe, Alberta. Also this year, some of the more advanced lines were evaluated in yield trials. The use of SSD had been in cooperation with the University of Saskatchewan, but due to the termination of funding, this joint venture has stopped.

This year, AAFC-Lacombe took over the western Canadian Common Root Rot nursery, previously grown by AAFC-Saskatoon.

Dr. George Clayton has moved to AAFC-Lacombe from AAFC-Beaverlodge, Alberta. Dr. Clayton will be involved in agronomy research with the Barley Group, especially in the area of zero and minimun tillage research.