Australian wheat researchers are participating in the International Adaptation Trial (IAT) in an effort to develop better wheat varieties for Australia's $5 billion wheat industry.

Information from the IAT can be used by Australian breeders to make more informed decisions about the wheat varieties they import and exchange, the crosses they make, and the genes and traits they use.

"Importing wheat for breeding can be time consuming and costly given strict quarantine regulations that safeguard Australia against pests and diseases," says Dr Scott Chapman, CSIRO Plant Industry.

"We can use the IAT results to help us efficiently choose parental wheats to breed better wheat varieties for Australian conditions and limitations."

As part of the IAT wheat breeders from Australia and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) chose 80 different wheat varieties that were then grown in 36 countries to identify the nature of different wheat growing regions.

In Australia the trial was grown between 2001 and 2004 in more than 24 sites across the wheat belt.

Dr Chapman and Dr Ky Mathews from The University of Queensland analysed the performance data from the different wheat varieties in the IAT from Australian and overseas.

"Performance of the broadly adapted varieties across locations tells us about their stability in different environments and their similarities among locations," Dr Chapman says.

"Highly specific varieties, that were either susceptible or resistant to a particular stress, were used in the trial as 'probes' to identify if a specific stress was present or not, like root nematodes."

Working with CIMMYT, Dr Mathews developed online summaries of the IAT results and a Geographic Information System (GIS) that maps the results and other features of spring wheat growing regions.

"Data from the IAT has helped us understand the relationships between Australian and international wheat growing regions to add value to local and global wheat breeding research," Dr Chapman says.

This research is done in collaboration with The University of Queensland and is supported by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

RELATED ARTICLE

International Adaptation Trial: Using probe and reference genotypes to characterize global spring wheat production environments.

Abstract

Results are presented from a nursery (International Adaptation Trial - IAT) to investigate environmental stresses in spring-wheat production areas. These illustrate concepts of using probe and reference genotype sets to characterize environments. A probe pair compares presence/absence of the Rht1 dwarfing gene in a Nesser background with results presented on maps. A reference genotype set of twenty-one broadly adapted CIMMYT-derived lines, grouped seventy-eight trials into three main groups, Australian rain-fed, high-yielding irrigated international trials and lower yielding irrigated or rain-fed international trials.

Link: http://www.regional.org.au/au/cs/2004/poster/3/2/2/1151_mathewsk.htm