New research is underway to advance plant breeding technologies and drive quicker delivery of high performance wheat and barley varieties that improve growers' profitability and sustainability.
New research is underway to advance plant breeding technologies and drive quicker delivery of high performance wheat and barley varieties that improve growers' profitability and sustainability.
The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) research, together with Grains Research and Development Corporation co-investment, will adopt novel genetic methodologies to improve doubled haploid breeding techniques.
Doubled haploid technology is a plant breeding shortcut that produces genetically pure, stable crop lines in a single generation - shaving years off variety development.
DPIRD's doubled-haploid program supports plant breeding companies throughout Australia by producing plant material to accelerate the breeding cycle.
The three-year project aims to improve doubled haploid production efficiency and reduce costs by validating and manipulating major genes that control tissue culture responses in wheat and barley.
Department research lead Yong Han said the research would investigate a range of cell and molecular biology technologies.
"Doubled haploid techniques are valuable tools for crop breeding and genetics research, producing homozygous or 'true breeding' lines that can be used for field testing and selection," Dr Han said.
"This research project will use comparative genomics and transcriptomics to identify the genes responsible for doubled haploid response, such as chromosome doubling, embryo induction and green plant regeneration.
"Transient gene silencing and expression to temporarily switch genes off or on, which do not change plant DNA or get passed onto the next generation of breeding lines, will be examined as a tool to manipulate the identified genes.
"The mystery of how female ovary conditioned culture medium can promote male microspore development to produce doubled haploid lines will also be explored by the project researchers."
A key part of the project will improve current wheat and barley anther culture protocols, which force a plant's pollen-making parts to grow into whole plants to generate genetically diverse and fixed plants in a matter of months.
While anther culture protocol is extensively used to produce doubled haploid populations in many cereal crops, the culture response among genetic materials can vary significantly, resulting in a low plant regenerant number or a high proportion of sterile plants.
These less responsive genotypes reduce the amount of robust doubled haploid lines available for subsequent breeding selection or genetic mapping.
Dr Han said the improved protocols could increase doubled haploid production efficiency and throughput, which would eventually be incorporated into future breeding practices.
"Together these integrated efforts will take doubled haploid technology to the next level and really push the potential of what's possible with genetic technology to boost grain yield and quality," he said.
The DPIRD researchers will collaborate closely with Australian breeding companies LongReach Plant Breeders and InterGrain for this research, which will eventually assist multiple projects under GRDC's Accelerating Genetic Gain Strategic Initiative.
GRDC Senior Manager Genetic Technologies, Jessica Hyles, said GRDC's Accelerating Genetic Gain initiative was investing in new technologies to help deliver improved varieties to growers faster.
"This project is focused on improving doubled haploid technologies that breeders use to fast-track the development of new wheat and barley varieties," Dr Hyles said.
"By making these breeding tools more efficient and cost-effective, we can help breeders deliver productivity gains and other valuable traits to Australian growers sooner."
