Western Canada's grain industry will soon have a new tool to dramatically improve the efficiency and success of wheat breeding, delivering superior wheat varieties into the hands of farmers.

Dr. Daryl Somers, a molecular genetics research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Cereal Research Centre in Winnipeg, and his research team are developing a genotype-based informatics system to store information on wheat genetics, for use by western Canadian wheat breeding programs. The goal of the project is to create a database and related software that will enable breeders to calculate, based on genetic information, which breeding crosses have the best chance of success. The Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF) Endowment Fund is contributing $201,000 to the three-year research project.

"This new database and software will benefit everyone involved in the Canadian wheat industry," says Somers. "Producers will notice stronger annual gains in wheat trait improvement, breeders will be able to deliver better varieties in a faster time frame, and Canada will have a plant breeding approach that is better able to react to market demands and opportunities."

An informatics system is like a catalogue, says Somers. It is able to collect massive amounts of information and store it in an easily accessible and manageable database. Special software is developed allowing users access to a variety of information management options. In Somers' project, the system will include DNA "fingerprints" or genotype data of wheat varieties, along with links to information on the genetic history of various wheat plants. This database will permit breeders to choose the best "parents" based on the package of genetic traits for which they want to aim.

"Genotype data is proving to be very informative in breeding, and yet is largely untapped by breeding programs," says Somers. "Our system will allow breeders to incorporate genetic diversity information into decisions on which crosses to make."

Somers, his team and co-investigator Travis Banks will include two key types of information in the database. First, they will include information on approximately 400 DNA-based indicators known as "molecular markers," which will help breeders identify the presence of key wheat traits, such as specific disease resistance or quality characteristics. Second, in consultation with western wheat breeders, they will include genotype fingerprint information on 200 to 300 wheat accessions, including all Canadian wheat varieties, which represent the genetic variation of the key wheat traits and can be used as "parent" material for breeding crosses.

A key component to the database will be information on the genetics of Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) resistance, which Somers has been gathering through another research project. FHB has been the most costly and scientifically challenging disease of wheat in Western Canada.

"The most direct application of this database project will be to deal with Fusarium," says Somers. "We have the knowledge about where the genes are that control Fusarium resistance, but detecting these genes by field analysis is difficult. It is easy to see these genes using DNA fingerprinting information, which would be available through the new system."

Somers says the timing of the project is good. The next three to four years in wheat breeding research are expected to be a critical time of opportunity during which large-scale use of molecular markers will become a routine and valuable part of the process.

"The importance of using molecular markers in breeding cannot be ignored," says Somers. "It will be key to dealing with Fusarium and other complex traits such as yield and quality."

More of Somers' perspective on the potential of informatics for wheat breeding is the subject of a feature article in the January 2004 edition of Western Grains Research Magazine, available on the WGRF Web site: www.westerngrains.com. The WGRF Endowment Fund has allocated over $17.5 million to more than 200 research projects since its inception in 1983.