Research results in resilience: Wheat Improvement Team helps producers focus on disease resistance

Research results in resilience: Wheat Improvement Team helps producers focus on disease resistance

Friday, December 13, 2024

Media Contact: Sophia Fahleson | Digital Communications Specialist | 405-744-7063 | [email protected]

Each year, Oklahoma wheat producers plant their crop, hoping for a bountiful harvest. At Oklahoma State University, the wheat improvement team dedicates its efforts to providing the best genetic resources for these agriculturalists.

The 11 faculty members on the wheat improvement team bring expertise in plant breeding, pathology, entomology, genetics, genomics, agronomy, soil fertility, weed science and computational modeling.

Meriem Aoun, small grains pathologist and assistant professor in the OSU Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, is a member of the team.

"My role is to help the OSU Wheat Improvement Team release disease-resistant varieties," Aoun said. "Wheat is affected by multiple diseases, and in Oklahoma, we are breeding for resistance to about 13 diseases."

Aoun's lab evaluates OSU winter wheat breeding lines to multiple fungal diseases and viruses in the greenhouse and in the field.

This provides information for Brett Carver, Regents professor of plant and soil sciences and the wheat breeder for the team, to select and advance specific breeding lines to release disease-resistant varieties.

"Disease-resistant varieties are less affected by diseases and thus have higher yield," Aoun said. "Growing resistant varieties reduces the need for fungicide applications, reduces the cost of production, and can help sustain the farm economy. Reducing fungicide use is safer for the environment and consumers."

In the OSU wheat breeding program, the breeder makes different crosses. The progenies are tested for disease resistance for multiple years.

Resistant breeding lines also are tested for other agronomic and quality traits, such as their yield, height, grazing tolerance, and milling and baking quality. The superior lines are released as varieties after many years of testing, Aoun said.

"As pathogen populations mutate or change and as new wheat pathogens appear, these resistant varieties may not keep their resistance," Aoun said.

Plant pathology doctoral student Rajat Sharma said he is working to improve stripe rust and leaf rust resistance in hard red winter wheat varieties, the two most destructive diseases in the southern Great Plains.

Stripe rust has evolved to be more aggressive in the warmer climate, Sharma said.

In 2024, stripe rust was a big problem but provided an opportunity to collect data and accurate readings to help selection of superior lines in the breeding program, Sharma added.

"My work involves field evaluations for both leaf rust and stripe rust," Sharma said. "My first project includes 450 lines of wheat and testing those in the greenhouse and in the field for stripe rust."

"I'm trying to identify which lines are resistant," he added. "If we can figure out which lines are resistant, we can use those in the breeding program as a variety or as parents."

Stripe rust in a wheat field appears in yellow powder-like stripes, hence the name "stripe rust." Stripe rust can occur earlier in the growing season because it thrives in a cooler climate, Sharma said.

Leaf rust will have brown spots and appear later in the growing season. Both pathogens can occur in the same season but appear with different weather conditions.

"Stripe rust isn't as frequent, and we won't have it every year," Sharma said. "We usually see it one of every three years in Oklahoma. It's good to show producers what the disease looks like, so they can identify it in their fields."

Each year, OSU Extension and OSU Ag Research host the OSU Wheat Variety Testing Plot Tours for Oklahoma wheat producers to learn about available wheat varieties and their performance against diseases. Growers can learn about other agronomic characteristics of wheat varieties and the differences between dual-purpose and grain-only wheat as well as the differences between intensive and standard management.

"Wheat is the largest cash crop in Oklahoma, and we plant about 4.5 million acres across the state," Aoun said. "About 70% of acres are planted with wheat varieties created by the OSU Wheat Improvement Team."

The top seven wheat varieties planted in Oklahoma in 2024 were developed at OSU, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Oklahoma Genetics Inc. is a nonprofit corporation composed of Oklahoma pedigreed seed producers and processors.

The goals of OGI are to promote, publicize, and market the genetics and benefits of quality seed while promoting education and research.

For marketing purposes, OGI has the licenses to the last 40-plus wheat releases from OSU. The royalties are collected through the seed sales of OSU varieties.

Every dollar OGI generates through royalties goes back to the university one way or another, whether as cash or as equipment needed by the wheat research team.

OGI covers a large area of the plains, including Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas and New Mexico.

Within the last two years, we bought two plot combines, one for Oklahoma Foundation Seed Stocks and one for the OSU Wheat Improvement Team," said Mark Hodges, OGI executive director. "Those were about $320,000 each. OGI is in business to serve OSU."

OSU wheat varieties with excellent disease resistance available to the public are Doublestop CL Plus, Stard CL Plus, Breakthrough, Green Hammer, Uncharted and Big Country.

"Information on wheat variety characteristics can be found online and can help growers select which variety to grow," Aoun said. "Several fact sheets and reports can be found on the OSU Extension website to educate producers about disease management."

Story by Olivia Bellah | Cowboy Journal

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