Perennial Wheat Research in Washington State

Karen Hills, Ph.D. student

• Intro to perennial wheat breeding at Washington State University (WSU)

• Quality traits of perennial vs. annual wheat

• Isolation of portion of chromosome 4E responsible for regrowth

• Carbohydrate storage in crown

• Resistance to wheat streak mosaic virus

• Map of WA

Ritzville, 300 mm (12 in)

Kahlotus, 250 mm (10 in)

Mount Vernon, 820 mm (32 in)

Pullman, 558 mm (20 in)

Breeding Approaches

Our Strategy…

•Involve the growers

•Breed specifically for sustainability

independent of the system

-Organic

-Perennial

-Evolutionary Plant Breeding

End Use Quality in Perennial Breeding Lines

Murphy et al. (2009) Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems: 24(4); 285–292.

ANNUAL WHEAT LIFE CYCLE

CROWN(unelongated basal

meristem cluster)

TILLERS(Branches from

primary axillary

meristems)

Programmed cell death begins at the crown and

spreads up the plant

WHEAT LIFE CYCLE

ANNUAL PERENNIALIn perennial wheat

relatives, meristems within the crown evade

senescence and regrow.

PERENNIAL WHEATChinese Spring Wheat

(2n = 6x = 42, AABBDD)

ANNUAL

Thinopyrum elongatum

(2n = 14, EE)

PERENNIAL

AgCS (CS/Wheatgrass Amphiploid)

(2n = 8x = 56, AABBDDEE)

PERENNIAL

Colchicine

PERENNIAL WHEAT

Added wheatgrass

chromosomes confer

perennial life history

GISH with

wheatgrass

DNA probe

CS CS+4E

Pullman, WA

LOW-RES GENETIC DISSECTION

• Assessed addition lines CS + 1E, 2E, 3E, 4E, 5E, 6E, 7E for regrowth

• Also assessed ditelosomic lines (ex: CS+4EL)

CS + 4E CS + 4EL

• Regrowth in CS+4E only

• CS+4EL (long arm telosome) does not regrow

• Gene(s) on 4ES are essential

CS AgCS CS+4E CS+4EL

MWG634

P36-195P36-160

E8-225

P36-330

P2-360

P31-325LoxA

P30-225

E36-165

E38-220

TubA1Rca1E36-280

P25-340

Bmy1

E38-380E36-160

E36-220E24-235

E59-400

4 cM5 cM

12 cM

14 cM

16 cM

19 cM

0 cM

20 cM

22 cM

24 cM26 cM

28 cM29 cM

37 cM38 cM

P8-27043 cM

62 cM

45 cM

46 cM

50 cM

33 cM

31 cM

REGROWS

DOESN’T REGROW

CYTOGENETIC DISSECTION OF PERENNIAL TRAITS

10

19

Regrows

Does not regrow

4EL

Does not regrow

• Region between rca1 and tubA1 appear to contain the gene(s) necessary for PSCR

• Markers E8-190, E9-275 and E29-220 are closest

• Proximal regions of 4ELcould also play a part

CONCLUSIONSRegrows

139

Post-sexual cycle regrowth and grain yield in Th. elongatum · T. aestivum amphiploids

Murphy et al. (2009) Plant Breeding

• Mean grain yields amphiploid lines:

632, 2086, 2226 kg/ha (44% of annual wheat)

• 18 – 81% PSCR

• No significant genotype x environment interactions for PSCR

• No relationship between grain yield and regrowth among lines exhibiting PSCR

Crown TNC and Regrowth

What are the carbohydrate stategies of annual, amphiploid, addition and subsititution lines?

CS (AABBDD)AgCS (AABBDDEE)DS 4E/4ADS 4E/4BDS 4E/4DCS+4ECS+4J (J genome from Th. bessarabicum)

Crown TNC and Regrowth

Grain YieldPercent TNC in

crownPercent

Regrowth

DS 4E/4D 10.9 a,b 7.9 ad 12 %

DS 4E/4B 12.4 b 8.1 ad 30 %

DS 4E/4A 6.7 c,d 7.6 ad 67 %

CS 11.3 a,b 6.6 bd 0%

CS + 4E 9.3 a,b,c 7.7 cd 70 %

CS + 4J 4.3 d 11.5 e 100 %

AgCs 6.8 a,d 9.7 ace 40 %

Greco, 2006 (unpublished)

Concerns with Perennial Wheat

• Wheat roots and crown persist in soil for multiple years

– Elevated disease threat

• Important winter wheat diseases in PNW:

www. ohioline.osu.edu

Cephalosporium stripe

www.rothamsted.bbsrc.ac.uk/ppi/staff/tap.html

Eyespot of wheat

Wheat streak mosaic

Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV)

• Family: Potyviridae

• Genus: Tritimovirus

• ssRNA viruses

• Vector: Wheat curl mite (Aceria tosichella[Keifer])

• Host range: Wheat, oat, barley, rye, corn, wild grasses (Bromus, Hordeum, Lolium, Agropyron, Poa)

WSM Symptoms

• Chlorotic mottled streaking in leaves

• Stunted growth, reduced tillering

• Wheat spikes sterile or completely absent

WSMV Control Options

• No effective options once field is infected:– Plant has the virus for life!

– No effective miticides available

• Host Eradication– Volunteer wheat

– “green bridge” from spring to winter wheat

• Breed for resistance– Thinopyrum sp. known sources for resistance to

WSMV

Conclusions – WSMV

• Resistance to WSMV present in perennial wheat breeding lines– Lines 03JP031 and 03JP039

– Variable reactions from plant to plant

– Possible heterogeneity within lines

• No temperature-sensitivity observed

• When temperatures ≥32C, immediate presence of symptoms, positive by ELISA:– 59% of 03JP039 plants were positive

– 100% five other perennial plants were positive

Ongoing work with WSMV

Objectives• To determine the extent of genetic diversity of

WSMV in the PNW, especially as it relates to pathogenic variation, and to examine the replication of WSMV in resistant and susceptible cultivars to understand the effect of resistance on WSMV.

Derived from Th. elongatum/CS//Madsen/3*Spitzer Populations

Future Direction

• Continue to select for

– Threshability

– Reliability of regrowth

– Full senescence and dormancy

(Eliminate indeterminate regrowth)

– Earliness (need more breeding to generate variation)

• Develop better understanding of genetic and physiological controls over regrowth

• Continue work on WSMV (2nd year growth)

Perennial wheat activities at Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan

Pwheat at KBS- 2009 Planting

• WSU (WA State Univ) nursery- replicated, 15 lines

• TLI (The Land Institute) nursery- small rows, 80 lines

• PWES (Perennial Wheat Ecosystem Services) Trial– What is a greater driver soil food webs and ecosystem

services, management or perenniality?

– Organic, Low N Conventional, High N Conventional

– Annual Wheat, Pwheat, Intermediate Wheatgrass• Measuring soil C, soil H2O and nitrate leaching (every 2

weeks), soil food webs (nematodes, microbial communities)

Pwheat at KBS- 2010 Planting

• Organic Legume-Pwheat Weed Study– Looking specifically at reducing weed competition

with legume intercrop

• Grazing Experiment with Int Wheatgrass and Pwheat– Looking to promote perenniality and crop

establishment with grazing

– Also get 2nd use of perennial grain as forage

• Seed Multiplication

Acknowledgements

• Dr. Stephen Jones joness@wsu.edu

• Dr. Tim Murray tim_murray@cahnrs.wsu.edu

• Dr. Kevin Murphy kmurphy2@wsu.edu

• Dr. Matt Arterburn matt.arterburn@washburn.edu

FundingUSDA-CSREES - Fund for Rural America

USDA-CSREES - Line item - Perennial

USDA-CSREES - Organic Program

WA State Department of Ecology

Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education

The Land Institute

Organic Farming Research Foundation

Center for Sustaining Ag. & Natural Resources

Washington Wheat Commission - WA Wheat Farmers

State of Washington

Microsoft (Employee Match)

Private Individuals