Four North Dakota State University wheat breeders and geneticists are joining other scientists in 17 states to improve U.S. wheat quality and disease resistance.

The four-year, $5 million, effort seeks to implement new molecular technologies called marker assisted selection. Markers are genes or DNA segments that serve as signposts, pinpointing a specific spot on wheat's genetic map. Breeders use the markers to increase their precision in selecting the best trait combinations for specific wheat varieties.

"All of the wheat breeding programs (durum, hard red spring wheat and white spring wheat) at NDSU will be involved in the grant,"
says Shahryar Kianian, associate professor in the Department of Plant Sciences. "The genetic information we gather will be stored in national databases, which then can be used to assist wheat breeders and researchers nationwide. We will be able to focus more quickly on genetic traits that are most important to producers."

Other NDSU research scientists involved in the project from the Plant Sciences Department are Mohamed Mergoum, William Berzonsky and Elias Elias. NDSU will receive more than $360,000 during the four-year period.

Once molecular markers are identified and inserted in a wheat variety, testing can begin shortly after the plants emerge instead of having to grow them for months, as in conventional tests.

"The goal is to produce better wheat varieties so we can better compete in the global marketplace," Kianian says. "We do that by combining our efforts to produce varieties that yield better, are more disease resistance and have better end use milling and baking qualities."

As an example, the NDSU research scientists will look at wheat traits, through molecular markers, that are important to North Dakota wheat producers, such as resistance to fusarium head blight. Fusarium head blight, or scab, was again a major economic problem for North Dakota producers in 2005. Total losses due to scab in hard red spring wheat, durum and barley were more than
$162 million in 2005.

The project includes an extensive outreach component to share information about these new technologies with the public, and an educational program to attract new students to agriculture and train them in modern and traditional breeding techniques.

The $5 million grant is funded through the USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service and administered through its National Research Initiative. The initiative supports research, education and Extension grants that address key problems of national, regional and multistate importance in sustaining all components of agriculture.