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NRI Competitive Grant Program #9300825
Exploring the Interface of Qualitative and Quantitative Genetics
Plant Systems Division
Plant Genome Program
University of Nebraska
P. S. Baenziger, Yang Yen
$201,000
Wheat is the most widely grown crop in the world and has the
highest grain production. Most of the grain is used for human
consumption, hence it is a staple crop for human well-being.
However despite its economic significance, very little is known
about the genes that control wheat yield and adaptation. In
general, variation for these traits is described mathematically,
but not genetically. The ability to identify genes controlling
yield and adaptation would greatly enhance wheat breeders'
ability to manipulate these genes to improve the crop. The
genetic information would also foster the development of better
breeding strategies. The purpose of this grant is to couple
advanced chromosomal manipulations with extensive field
evaluation to identify the chromosomal segments containing genes
that control yield and adaptation in hard red winter wheat (the
predominant wheat grown in the United States). Specifically a
set of lines containing segments of chromosomes that were
previously identified as having important effects on yield and
traits associated with yield will be developed. These lines
containing chromosome segments will be evaluated in replicated
field trials in multiple locations in Nebraska. By evaluating
these lines, it should be possible to develop an understanding of
how many genes on the chromosome affect yield and adaptation, how
the genes interact (epistasis or heterosis), and how traits are
affected by the genes (pleiotropy or linkage effects). This
genetic information and the developed chromosome segment lines
will be shared with interested plant breeders, geneticists, and
molecular biologist for future research.
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