RESEARCH projects seeking to identify new wheat genetic material for plant breeders were among the projects demonstrated on the Velcourt stand at Cereals.
Projects underway at NIAB TAG in partnership with the John Innes Centre and the Wheat Genetic Improvement Network (WGIN) were taking slightly different approaches but had the same aim, said Velcourt technical director Keith Norman.
“We are now looking at the wheat gene pool on a global scale and pulling out traits that are desirable,” he said.
Material emerging from the WGIN project highlighted some of the diversity available in terms of traits such as crop height, nitrogen use efficiency and flowering date. Differences in flowering date, for example, had implications for how varieties reacted to drought or other crop stresses, as well as influencing the length of the grain fill period.
“All of this information is given to breeders for use in their own crossings. This is where breeders need genetic markers to pinpoint what is worth keeping and what needs to be thrown out,” said Mr Norman.
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