GrainGenes

UK program.

Stephen Brown and Wybe van de Schaar.

High-yielding winter wheats suitable for biscuit making, distilling, or animal feed remain the major types with high­yielding breadmaking cultivars forming about 20 % of the area.

New this year are `Beaufort' and `Consort'. Beaufort, from a `Rendezvous/Haven//Fresco' cross, is a high-yielding, hard-milling winter type suitable for animal feed with good specific weight and very good overall disease resistance, making it suitable for low-cost production in England. This cultivar was selected via a single-seed descent. Consort, from a `Riband `sib'/Fresco//Riband' cross, is a high-yielding, soft-milling type suitable for biscuits, distilling, export, and animal feed. The agronomic and quality characteristics of Consort are all equal to, or better than those of Riband, which has been the most widely grown cultivar in the UK for the past 3 years. Consort is expected to contribute about 8 percent of the UK production in the l996 harvest year.

French program.

Richard Summers and Vernonique Tremellat.

The breeding program was established during the l989ñ90 season, initially using material from the UK program. In l992, a new research station was completed in the Beauce, a cereal-growing region 100 km southwest of Paris. The station has a staff complement of 10, six of whom are dedicated to wheat breeding. The station manager is Frank Triverio.

The main program develops winter wheat cultivars targeted at the northern wheat-growing areas of France, which constitute some 80 % of the total market. However, cultivars with more general adaptability also are sought, and early maturing, alternative types are also tested in the southwest of France, near Toulouse. The aim is to develop cultivars that combine high yield and good agronomic type (e.g., good straw strength) with desired end-user quality and improved disease resistance. In general terms, 80 % of the program is dedicated to producing cultivars with breadmaking potential and 20 % to producing cultivars suitable for biscuits or animal feed.

The most important commercial cultivars at present are `Vivant' (for feed and export), `Rialto' (for bread and export), and `Shango' (for bread and export). All three are late maturing, true winter wheats, best suited for cereal growing areas north of Paris or to the best, most moisture-retentive soils in the Paris basin and the Beauce. PBI cultivars are marketed in France by the French company Florimond Desprez.

German program.

Hilmar Coster and Uta Leisenberg.

The program aims at producing cultivars for the central European plain, including the Netherlands, Denmark, and the south of Germany, by combining the high yield, short straw, and good resistance of many UK cultivars with the quality, winterhardiness, and ear disease resistance of German cultivars.

The program was established by Chris Tapsell, and selection began in Germany in l990. Material moved to Silstedt in l99l, where the station was established as PBI-Saatzucht. The breeding nursery now extends to 32 ha including some barley and oil-seed rape trials, and the program is controlled by a German staff of seven. Cultivars are marketed by Saatzucht Carsten.

PBI-C cultivars (Haven and Rialto) currently occupy about 4 percent of the German market, and two cultivars, Caprimus and Campu specific for Germany, were registered in l994. Caprimus is a high-yielding biscuit quality winter wheat, with good disease resistance, from a `Gawain x Aquila' cross. Campus is a very high-yielding, short, very disease-resistant cultivar producing grain for animal feed. It was selected from the cross of `Haven x Slejpner'.

Two cultivars, Charger and Hanseat have completed Official trials and await approval. Both are high yielding, with good baking quality, excellent leaf disease resistance, and good winter hardiness.

ITEMS FROM THE UNITED STATES

ARKANSAS

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS

Department of Plant Pathology, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA.

R.K. Bacon, E.A. Milus, B.R. Wells, and J.T. Kelly.

Production. According to the Arkansas Agricultural Statistics Service, Arkansas farmers planted 1,100,000 acres of soft red winter wheat and harvested 1,000,000 acres in 1995. Average yield in the state was 47 bu/acre, accounting for a total production of 47,000,000 bu. Yields were generally high probably in part because of favorable weather and low disease pressure.

Management. Soil fertility studies were conducted with emphasis on nitrogen and phosphorus as related to cultivar differences. The studies have shown good yield response to P fertilizer applications on soils testing low in P. Additionally, the new wheat cultivars require slightly higher rates of fertilizer N to achieve top yields. However, we do not see any significant interactions between P and K in terms of grain yields. Other studies with wheat following rice continue to show the increased need for P fertilization when wheat follows waterlogged soils.

Diseases. Early planting and mild fall weather were conducive for high populations of aphids, Hessian fly, and leaf rust on seedling wheat. Barley yellow dwarf and leaf rust were the most important diseases in 1995, and the Hessian fly infection was severe in some fields. Leaf rust overwintered very well, but the epidemic was slowed by unusually dry weather in March and early April. Nevertheless, leaf rust was severe on susceptible cultivars by the soft dough stage. In a few fields, either stripe rust or powdery mildew was severe.

Research on the epidemiology and control of Septoria (Stagonospora) nodorum blotch and on the use of ELISA procedures to identify resistance to soilborne viruses was begun in 1995. Seedborne inoculum appeared to be the most important source and initiated the epidemic in the fall. Inoculum from crop debris did not appear to contribute to the epidemic until after flag leaf emergence. Baytan and Dividend seed treatments reduced leaf infection through maturity. ELISA procedures appeared to be useful for identifying genotypes resistant to wheat soilborne mosaic and wheat spindle streak mosaic viruses when symptoms were too mild to visually identify resistance. Some genotypes appeared to be tolerant to these diseases.

Breeding and Genetics. The experimental line AR 26158-4 was released to seed dealers as `Jaypee' for its superior combination of high yield, high test weight, early maturity, and leaf rust resistance. Jaypee was developed from the cross `Arthur 6/AR 39-3'. Arthur 6 was released later as the cultivar Doublecrop. AR 39-3 is a selection from `Arthur/973'; 973 was a line from Yugoslavia with the parentage `Forlani/Garibaldino'. The original selection (AR 26158) was made from a single head from an F3 bulk. Because of heterogeneity in AR 26158, single-head selections were made in the F13. AR 26158-4 was tested in the Small-Grain Cultivar Performance Trials in 1993ñ94 and 1994ñ95 and also in the Uniform Southern and Uniform Eastern Soft Red Winter Wheat regional trials in 1994-95. AR 26158-4 has shown excellent adaptation at test sites around the state and in the southern region.

Jaypee is a tip-awned, white-chaffed line that is approximately 4 inches shorter and 4 days earlier in maturity than `Wakefield'. It has good straw strength and is resistant to leaf rust and moderately resistant to the soilborne virus complex and glume blotch. According to seedling tests by the Cereal Rust Lab, AR 26158-4 contains Lr10 and Lr18 for leaf rust and Sr36, +, for stem rust. Tests by Dr. Steven Leath, USDA-ARS, indicate that it may have adult plant resistance to powdery mildew. Results from the USDA Soft Wheat Quality Lab indicate excellent baking characteristics and good milling characteristics. At this time, protection under Title V of the PVP is being sought.

Jaypee was named in honor of Dr. J.P. Jones, emeritus professor of plant pathology. During his 27 years of service to the university and to the state of Arkansas, he worked closely with four small-grains breeders in the development of improved cultivars. He was instrumental in the release of one barley, three oat, and four wheat cultivars.

Research on nitrogen utilization of wheat lines was completed. Twenty lines were evaluated under spring N rates of 0, 67, 134, and 202 kg N/ha for 2 years at two locations. Five lines were developed by selecting for high nitrate reductase activity (NRA) and five lines by selecting for low NRA in two populations, `Keiser/McNair 1003' and `Keiser/Saluda'. Selection also was based on yield and test weight performance. Results indicated that those lines selected for low NRA in the `Keiser/McNair 1003' population generally had higher average grain yields. However, in the `Keiser/Saluda' population, those lines selected for high NRA tended to have the higher grain yields. In both populations, the lines with the highest N concentration in the leaf tissue at anthesis at all N rates were low NRA lines. Generally, no significant differences were found between the 134 and 202 kg N/ha rates for N content in either population. The N utilization efficiency tended to be higher for those lines selected for low NRA as compared to those selected for high NRA in the `Keiser/Saluda' population.

Publications.

Bacon RK, Kelly JT, and Parsons CE. 1995. 1994-95 Arkansas small-grain cultivar performance tests. Pp. 36.

Bashir R, Wells BR, and Bacon RK. 1995. Nitrogen accumulation and distribution by soft red winter wheat. Agron Abstr p. 262.

Correll MD, Wells BR, Bacon RK, and Kelly JT. 1995. Wheat response to time of application of phosphorus fertilizer. In: Arkansas Soil Fertility Studies 1994 (Sabbe WB ed). Arkansas Agric Exp Stn Res Series 443. Pp. 1-7.

Kelly JT and Bacon RK. 1995. Performance of experimental wheat lines selected for nitrogen utilization. Agron Abstr Southern Branch, New Orleans, LA. p. 4.

Kelly JT, Bacon RK, and Gbur EE. 1995. Relationship of grain yield and test weight in soft red winter wheat. Cereal Res Commun 23:53-57.

Kelly JT, Bacon RK, and Wells BR. 1995. Genetic variability in nitrogen utilization at four growth stages in soft red winter wheat. J Plant Nutrition 18(5):969-982.

Kelly JT, Wells BR, Bacon RK, and Parsons CE. 1995. Cultivar response to nitrogen rate and fungicide treatment of wheat. Agron Abstr p. 120.

Milus EA and Mirlohi AF. 1995. Survival of Xanthomonas campestris pv. translucens between successive wheat crops in Arkansas. Plant Dis 79:263-265.

Milus EA, Chalkley DB, and Parsons CE. 1995. Evaluation of ICIA5504 for control of head blight and leaf and glume blotch, 1994. Fungicide and Nematicide Tests 50:231.

Milus EA, Gergerich RC, and Wickizer SL. 1995. Evaluation of soft red winter wheat for resistance to wheat soilborne mosaic and wheat spindle streak mosaic viruses. Phytopath 85:1116.

Milus EA, Rothrock CS, Jones RK, and Lorince T. 1995. Ecology of seedborne Pantoea agglomerans and Enterobacter agglomerans on wheat. In: Proc 6th Inter Symp on the Microbiology of Aerial Plant Surfaces p. 88.

Schuler SF, Bacon RK, Finney PL, and Gbur EE. 1995. Relationship of test weight and kernel properties to milling and baking quality in soft red winter wheat. Crop Sci 35:949-953.

Wells, B.R., Bacon RK, Kelly JT, and Correll MD. 1995. Wheat cultivar response to nitrogen rate and fungicide treatment. In: W.E. Sabbe, editor. Arkansas Soil Fertility Studies 1994. Arkansas Agric Exp Stn Res Ser 443. Pp. 8-15.

Wells BR, Bacon RK, Dilday R, Kelly JT, and Dickson P. 1995. Response of wheat following rice to fall fertilization. In: W.E. Sabbe, editor. Arkansas Soil Fertility Studies 1994. Arkansas Agric Exp Stn Res Ser 443. Pp. 16-20.