The United Kingdom's most significant crop attracted UK and CIMMYT specialists to Mexico for a workshop that covered all topics relating to wheat research—from the challenges of global wheat breeding to the latest developments and application of functional genomics. Many ideas ripened into research plans for collaboration among peers who face some of the same challenges on both sides of the Atlantic.

Twenty-nine participants (photo) from the UK and CIMMYT joined forces during 9-11 December 2004 to share knowledge and to provide a platform for future cooperation. The John Innes Centre's John Snape introduced the workshop, held at CIMMYT-Mexico, saying "The UK is now driven to internationalize its wheat research, and meeting here at CIMMYT will allow increased awareness and synergies." This year, USD 11.6 million will be spent on wheat research by the UK's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), which will help to implement the European Union's call-to-arms to address agricultural problems in developing countries.

Global Partnerships Against Powdery Mildew

A big topic at the meetings was powdery mildew, a disease that constitutes an important threat to wheat in Europe and countries, such as China, whose farmers CIMMYT is working to assist. Even though Mexico's climate and geography exempt its wheat crop from the disease, this hasn't stopped CIMMYT wheat breeder Morton Lillemo from working to identify globally and durably resistant wheat lines, in collaboration with 15 partners from around the world, including UK cereal pathologist, James Brown. One such line, called Saar, was developed at CIMMYT by wheat pathologist Dr. Ravi Singh, and has durable resistance to leaf rust and stripe rust. "Saar is the best CIMMYT source of resistance to powdery mildew," says Lillemo.

Contrasts and Complementarity

Current UK wheat research has emerged from a long legacy of exploration. Nine organizations were represented at the workshop, including the John Innes Centre, University of Nottingham, BBSRC, and the private companies Nickerson Seeds and Advanta. Another participant, Rothamsted Research, has the longest running wheat experiment in the world, started in 1843 to examine the effects of manure and inorganic fertilizer application. The Broadbalk experiment is more sophisticated now, but this same plot of land continues to divulge data on crop management and rotation and yields.

An integral part of wheat research at CIMMYT is known as "shuttle breeding," an approach developed by Nobel Peace Laureate and former CIMMYT wheat breeder, Norman E. Borlaug, and his colleagues. The practice takes advantage of Mexico's environmental diversity by running two breeding cycles per year instead of one: a winter cycle in the northern Mexican desert of Sonora and a summer crop in the central Mexican highlands. This not only speeds selection, but also exposed test varieties to radically different day lengths, temperatures, altitudes, and diseases. The resulting lines are broadly adapted; that is, they grow well in numerous environments. Shuttle breeding continues today within Mexico and between CIMMYT and partners worldwide.

Breeders in the UK target a rigorously defined European wheat market. For example, in the UK it takes three years for a new wheat variety to pass tests for inclusion in a list of officially recommended wheats for farmers. The process is long and costly. Approximately 80 varieties start out, and maybe 15 of the best graduate to the third year, when they go through still more trials. "You can sell a line after the second year, but to get a decent market share, you have to get recommendation in the third year," says wheat breeder Mark Dodds of CPB Twyfords. One result is "the lack of middle ground between the private and public sector," says fellow wheat breeder Chris Chapman of Nickerson Seeds. Private breeders are intent on producing lines that will qualify for the recommended wheats list. In contrast, public research focuses on publications and projects often unrelated to commercial wheat lines. To help bridge the gap, a wheat genetic improvement network has been initiated among UK institutions.

Adding Value to CIMMYT's Work for Developing Country Wheat Farmers

The workshop brought clear dividends for CIMMYT's efforts. For example, CIMMYT breeders and biotechnologists currently use a type of molecular markers or tags called simple sequence repeats (SSRs), but another kind of marker system used by some UK scientists, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), could prove very valuable in finding relationships between sequence variation at the DNA level and agronomically useful variation in the field. Workshop participants explored the potential for joint initiatives on this topic and others.

CIMMYT scientists were provided a unique opportunity to get updated on the UK wheat research, known by all for its quality and depth by the people who actually conduct it, and the UK researchers were able to appreciate the breadth of CIMMYT's efforts worldwide and the value of the center's efforts to conserve and use wheat genetic resources. A call was made for another workshop to be held in the UK in 2007. "We are hoping that this is the start of these types of interactions, and that they will grow," says Snape. Meanwhile, specific outcomes of the meeting included plans to:

• Establish a joint program to investigate the genetics and physiology of grain size in wheat.

• Have the UK take part in CIMMYT's International Winter Wheat Screening Nursery Trial system and receive information and seed from breeding programs.

• Exchange molecular marker protocols.

• Use CIMMYT crop bioinformatics expertise to guide the development of platforms for managing genomics datasets.

• Extend a joint program between the University of Nottingham and CIMMYT on the physiological determinants of ear fertility.

• Expand work to identify QTLs for ear fertility and develop backcross lines in UK wheat for pre-breeding.

• Characterize transgenic wheat lines with increased grains per unit area to examine potential effects on grain size and yields under high radiation conditions in Mexico.

• Exchange of materials between HarvestPlus and Healthgrain, to compare contents of mineral, vitamins and phytochemicals.

• Expand collaboration in breeding for resistance to powdery mildew and Septoria tritici.