source: Farm and Food Report
Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre are looking to strengthen Canada’s position in top world durum markets through efforts to track the gene responsible for the wheat’s bright yellow colour.
Dr. Curtis Pozniak is a plant breeder at the Centre.
“Our premium customers in the U.S., Venezuela and Italy like the bright yellow colour, which comes from the presence of carotenoids, a type of pigmentation that is also responsible for the yellow colour of corn and cornmeal. A high concentration of carotenoids in durum translates into bright yellow pasta, a desirable trait.”
Currently, Canada is responsible for about 60 per cent of the world’s durum trade. The three-year study currently under way will help ensure Canadian durum wheat producers remain competitive with other wheat producers, such as Australia, that are becoming major forces in durum breeding and biotechnology.
“In Canada, cultivars like AC Avonlea, AC Navigator and the newly released Commander, have very good yellow pigment concentrations. Our objective is to identify the genes that contribute for that good colour so that we can ensure all new cultivars that are developed have the same or higher levels of yellow colour pigment.”
Pozniak says his research builds on earlier efforts by Dr. Ron Knox, Biotechnologist Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and co-research on this project, which have exposed the chromosome regions where the genes for the yellow pigment can be found.
“Finding the chromosome region is like finding the town the genes live in. With this information, we can now go into the town, find the genes and confirm that they are responsible for high yellow pigmentation. When we find the genes, we can use routine DNA testing to follow them through our breeding program.”
Pozniak explains that, because the gene sequences for yellow pigmentation have already been identified in rice, there is a DNA catalogue available to guide the gene identification process in durum.
“Rice is a model species for grass species like wheat and barley in terms of genome organization and structure allowing us to use DNA sequences from rice to isolate genes from durum.. It gives us a definite advantage in our investigative work to find the genes.”
The ramifications of such an achievement would be considerable. Understanding the genes involved, would allow breeders to identify breeding lines with the desirable carotenoid concentration in the grain, and important trait for our premium export markets.
“As plant breeders, we are constantly busy selecting for agronomy, disease resistance and a whole host of end-use and quality traits If we can isolate the yellow pigment genes and track them in our program, it will help insure our breeding lines have the genetic potential for high yellow pigment content. This will allow us to concentrate our efforts the other traits we are trying to imporve and produce varieties that will preserve Canada’s position on the world durum stage more efficiently.”
For more information, contact:
Dr. Curtis Pozniak
Crop Development Centre
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-2361
Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre are looking to strengthen Canada’s position in top world durum markets through efforts to track the gene responsible for the wheat’s bright yellow colour.
Dr. Curtis Pozniak is a plant breeder at the Centre.
“Our premium customers in the U.S., Venezuela and Italy like the bright yellow colour, which comes from the presence of carotenoids, a type of pigmentation that is also responsible for the yellow colour of corn and cornmeal. A high concentration of carotenoids in durum translates into bright yellow pasta, a desirable trait.”
Currently, Canada is responsible for about 60 per cent of the world’s durum trade. The three-year study currently under way will help ensure Canadian durum wheat producers remain competitive with other wheat producers, such as Australia, that are becoming major forces in durum breeding and biotechnology.
“In Canada, cultivars like AC Avonlea, AC Navigator and the newly released Commander, have very good yellow pigment concentrations. Our objective is to identify the genes that contribute for that good colour so that we can ensure all new cultivars that are developed have the same or higher levels of yellow colour pigment.”
Pozniak says his research builds on earlier efforts by Dr. Ron Knox, Biotechnologist Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and co-research on this project, which have exposed the chromosome regions where the genes for the yellow pigment can be found.
“Finding the chromosome region is like finding the town the genes live in. With this information, we can now go into the town, find the genes and confirm that they are responsible for high yellow pigmentation. When we find the genes, we can use routine DNA testing to follow them through our breeding program.”
Pozniak explains that, because the gene sequences for yellow pigmentation have already been identified in rice, there is a DNA catalogue available to guide the gene identification process in durum.
“Rice is a model species for grass species like wheat and barley in terms of genome organization and structure allowing us to use DNA sequences from rice to isolate genes from durum.. It gives us a definite advantage in our investigative work to find the genes.”
The ramifications of such an achievement would be considerable. Understanding the genes involved, would allow breeders to identify breeding lines with the desirable carotenoid concentration in the grain, and important trait for our premium export markets.
“As plant breeders, we are constantly busy selecting for agronomy, disease resistance and a whole host of end-use and quality traits If we can isolate the yellow pigment genes and track them in our program, it will help insure our breeding lines have the genetic potential for high yellow pigment content. This will allow us to concentrate our efforts the other traits we are trying to imporve and produce varieties that will preserve Canada’s position on the world durum stage more efficiently.”
For more information, contact:
Dr. Curtis Pozniak
Crop Development Centre
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-2361
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