Davis, California
April 28, 2008
The genes responsible for the wide
range of freezing temperatures that can be tolerated by
different wheat varieties have been identified by a team of U.S.
and European scientists, led by a plant scientist at the
University of California, Davis.
The study results suggest that the genes that regulate
frost-tolerance are activated at milder temperatures (53-59
degrees
F) in frost-tolerant wheat varieties than in frost-susceptible
varieties.
The findings, reported in the March issue of the journal Plant
Molecular Biology, are important for better understanding winter
injury, a major economic risk factor in producing wheat.
"It has been difficult for wheat breeders to develop more
winter-hardy varieties because frost tolerance in wheat is a
complex trait that is regulated by many genes," said Professor
Jorge Dubcovsky, a wheat breeder and geneticist.
"The identification of these genes will enable breeders to
develop hardier, more productive wheat varieties, which is of
vital importance in light of growing pressures to increase
global food production," he said.
As the world's leading exporter of wheat, the United States
annually produces more than 50 million metric tons of wheat,
which is used to make a broad spectrum of food products ranging
from breads to pastas.
This study was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture --
Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, the
Hungarian Wheat Spike Consortia, the Hungarian National Research
Fund, the National Science Foundation Plant Genome Program and
the Ohio Plant Biotechnology Consortium.
The study is part of an ongoing research program by Dubcovsky
and colleagues to uncover the genetic basis of important wheat
traits.
More information on this research is available at
http://www.plantsciences.ucdavis.edu/Dubcovsky/ |
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