Guelph, Ontario, Canada
October 7, 2014
- Double Haploid Wheat Initiative brings together public, private, producer organizations – including Canadian Wheat Alliance, KWS, Western Grains Research Foundation and Syngenta – in partnership
- Improvements to double-haploid technology aim to accelerate time-to-market of wheat innovations
Syngenta Canada Inc. is pleased to announce a new partnership with the Canadian Wheat Alliance, KWS and the Western Grains Research Foundation to make double-haploid technology an accessible and cost-efficient wheat-breeding tool. The Double Haploid Wheat Initiative is focused on decreasing the time to market from initial cross to commercialization of spring and winter wheat varieties.
“Syngenta recognizes that industry collaboration is key to realizing tangible advancements in wheat transformation,” says Norm Dreger, Head, Cereals North America. “We are excited to contribute our extensive breeding expertise to the Double Haploid Wheat Initiative project, and are eager to see how this collaboration will accelerate cereals research and the resulting wheat innovations delivered to market.”
Double-haploid technology reduces the wheat breeding cycle from 10–12 years to as few as 6–7 years, allowing for agronomically significant varieties to be brought to market more quickly. The technology is widely used in other crops, such as canola, corn and soybeans, but wheat breeders have been challenged to adapt the technology in wheat due, in part, to the high cost of production.
Double Haploid Wheat Initiative project participants originate from the public, private and producer sectors, with each organization bringing unique competencies and expertise to the consortium. Syngenta’s contribution will take the form of extensive breeding expertise, with Rollie Sears, Syngenta Senior Research Fellow based out of Junction City, Kansas, assuming the role of Lead Scientist for Syngenta on the project. Sears’ efforts will focus on the identification of genes that control and improve the efficiency of successful double-haploid production, such as screening germplasm for microspore responsiveness to produce more amenable wheat plant varieties and identifying and mapping the genes responsible for microspore responsiveness traits to be selected for breeding programs.
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