Physiological and molecular characterisation of salinity tolerance in chickpea. Chickpea is a grain legume often grown in rotation with cereal crops to enhance profitability and environmental sustainability of broadacre cropping systems in Australia, and elsewhere. Chickpea is sensitive to salinity, and thus can not be grown on soils affected even by mild salinity. Limited grain legume options currently exist for these soils. This project will improve salt tolerance in chickpea and thus allow it ....Physiological and molecular characterisation of salinity tolerance in chickpea. Chickpea is a grain legume often grown in rotation with cereal crops to enhance profitability and environmental sustainability of broadacre cropping systems in Australia, and elsewhere. Chickpea is sensitive to salinity, and thus can not be grown on soils affected even by mild salinity. Limited grain legume options currently exist for these soils. This project will improve salt tolerance in chickpea and thus allow it to be grown in areas too saline for current cultivars. The research contributes to the National Research Priority of 'An Environmentally Sustainable Australia', as new cultivars of chickpea with improved salt tolerance will enhance the profitability and sustainability of rotational cropping systems in Australia.Read moreRead less
Invesitgation of environmental staining and storage discolouration in Faba Bean. Faba beans are an important pulse crop in Australia. They are exported to the Middle East and Europe for human consumption where buff coloured beans are desired. A third of beans become discoloured in storage. These are downgraded to stock feed with a loss of $50 per ton to the grower. Currently little is known about the causes. Environmental factors and selected genotypes will be assessed to determine the potential ....Invesitgation of environmental staining and storage discolouration in Faba Bean. Faba beans are an important pulse crop in Australia. They are exported to the Middle East and Europe for human consumption where buff coloured beans are desired. A third of beans become discoloured in storage. These are downgraded to stock feed with a loss of $50 per ton to the grower. Currently little is known about the causes. Environmental factors and selected genotypes will be assessed to determine the potential causes of discoluration. Analytical techniques will ascertain the discolouration process and the compounds produced. The aim is to provide growers with information on management strategies and breeders of strain resistant genotypes.Read moreRead less
Genomic Synteny in Legumes; Application to Crop Breeding. Synteny is defined as the degree of colinearity between the order of orthologous genes in chromosomes of related species. New data suggests that legumes share widespread synteny. Extensive genomic resources are being accumulated for the model legume, Medicago truncatula including the full genome sequence. We propose to use these resources to uncover patterns of synteny between M. truncatula and the cultivated legumes chickpeas, lupins, ....Genomic Synteny in Legumes; Application to Crop Breeding. Synteny is defined as the degree of colinearity between the order of orthologous genes in chromosomes of related species. New data suggests that legumes share widespread synteny. Extensive genomic resources are being accumulated for the model legume, Medicago truncatula including the full genome sequence. We propose to use these resources to uncover patterns of synteny between M. truncatula and the cultivated legumes chickpeas, lupins, faba-beans, lentils and lucerne. In addition to revealing patterns of chromosomal evolution in this large plant family, we will generate genetic maps and molecular markers for use in practical plant breeding of these important crops.Read moreRead less
Seed quality and disease resistance trait mapping in lentil (Lens culinaris ssp. culinaris). To protect and increase our world lentil market share, the mission of the Australian lentil breeders is to develop lentil varieties with superior seed qualities. Three highly desirable seed quality traits are; fatter and larger shape, better splitting efficiency and resistance to blemishing by ascochyta blight infection. To speed up the development of varieties with these traits, the genetic loci governi ....Seed quality and disease resistance trait mapping in lentil (Lens culinaris ssp. culinaris). To protect and increase our world lentil market share, the mission of the Australian lentil breeders is to develop lentil varieties with superior seed qualities. Three highly desirable seed quality traits are; fatter and larger shape, better splitting efficiency and resistance to blemishing by ascochyta blight infection. To speed up the development of varieties with these traits, the genetic loci governing them will be characterised and closely associated molecular markers identified. Markers will be validated for their use in marker-assisted breeding programs via back-crossing and field and glass house testing.Read moreRead less
Pyramiding ascochyta blight (A. rabiei) resistance in chickpea. Ascochyta blight (A. rabiei) is the most devastating disease that affects chickpea production in Australia. This project will produce enhanced chickpea breeding germplasm with sustainable resistance to ascochyta blight. This will be achieved through the enrichment of highly informative genome linkage maps and the development of molecular markers closely associated with novel resistance genes. Markers will be used to screen backcross ....Pyramiding ascochyta blight (A. rabiei) resistance in chickpea. Ascochyta blight (A. rabiei) is the most devastating disease that affects chickpea production in Australia. This project will produce enhanced chickpea breeding germplasm with sustainable resistance to ascochyta blight. This will be achieved through the enrichment of highly informative genome linkage maps and the development of molecular markers closely associated with novel resistance genes. Markers will be used to screen backcrossed populations for novel resistance in order to pyramid the genes involved. The most resistant lines, to all of the A. rabiei pathotypes, will be selected for use in future resistance breeding programs.Read moreRead less
Explaining the interactions between drought and fertiliser use efficiency using tracing and imaging techniques. With climate change, Australian agriculture is faced with periods of increasing drought and changing rainfall patterns. At the same time, Australian farmers are faced with increasing costs of fertiliser inputs (their largest variable input cost), yet have little information on how they should change their nutrient management programs to suit the changing climatic conditions. This proje ....Explaining the interactions between drought and fertiliser use efficiency using tracing and imaging techniques. With climate change, Australian agriculture is faced with periods of increasing drought and changing rainfall patterns. At the same time, Australian farmers are faced with increasing costs of fertiliser inputs (their largest variable input cost), yet have little information on how they should change their nutrient management programs to suit the changing climatic conditions. This project aims to determine the effect of drought and rainfall patterns on the efficiency of fertiliser use by crops, through examination of the effects of soil moisture conditions on the interaction between soil and added fertilisers. Read moreRead less
Protecting the Australian chickpea industry through knowledge of the current Ascochyta rabiei fungal population and risk to resistance breeding strategies. Australian chickpea is highly vulnerable to epidemics of Ascochyta blight, which may cause total crop failure. This project will help to maintain Australia's position as a major global chickpea producer through maximising the life span of current resistance genes to A. rabiei. and determining the applicability of other potential resistance so ....Protecting the Australian chickpea industry through knowledge of the current Ascochyta rabiei fungal population and risk to resistance breeding strategies. Australian chickpea is highly vulnerable to epidemics of Ascochyta blight, which may cause total crop failure. This project will help to maintain Australia's position as a major global chickpea producer through maximising the life span of current resistance genes to A. rabiei. and determining the applicability of other potential resistance sources. The knowledge that will be generated regarding the pathogen's potential to overcome host resistance is imperative for developing future disease management strategies, especially since more aggressive isolates exist outside Australia. The project findings will feed directly into the National Australian Chickpea Breeding Program.Read moreRead less
Mechanisms and management of inducible tolerance to synthetic insecticides and Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)-formulations in Australian populations of diamondback moth. Insects have a cunning ability to respond to damaging environments by evolving genetic resistance or mobilising metabolic tolerance mechanisms. Recent observations of inducible tolerance to synthetic and biopesticides, which can be transmitted to offspring by a maternal effect has the potential to cause ecological and economic prob ....Mechanisms and management of inducible tolerance to synthetic insecticides and Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)-formulations in Australian populations of diamondback moth. Insects have a cunning ability to respond to damaging environments by evolving genetic resistance or mobilising metabolic tolerance mechanisms. Recent observations of inducible tolerance to synthetic and biopesticides, which can be transmitted to offspring by a maternal effect has the potential to cause ecological and economic problems in agricultural production. We will use field-collected Diamondback moth (DBM), a major insect pest in canola and brassica vegetable crops, to investigate the genetic implications of inducible tolerance for the integrated management of DBM and for the design of new resistance management strategies.Read moreRead less
Fast tracking pea weevil resistance into field pea cultivars through interspecific hybridisation. Field pea is a high value export product of Australia and increased adoption will lead to greater sustainability of agriculture, improved farm income and value adding opportunities (eg. food industry) in regional Australia. Novel breeding tools used within this project will accelerate the development of pea weevil resistant field peas that are less dependent on the application of pesticides than cur ....Fast tracking pea weevil resistance into field pea cultivars through interspecific hybridisation. Field pea is a high value export product of Australia and increased adoption will lead to greater sustainability of agriculture, improved farm income and value adding opportunities (eg. food industry) in regional Australia. Novel breeding tools used within this project will accelerate the development of pea weevil resistant field peas that are less dependent on the application of pesticides than current varieties. Their availability will encourage further uptake of field pea into Australian cropping systems, contributing to environmentally sustainable farming systems by improving soil nitrogen levels and reducing the environmental effect of pesticides.Read moreRead less
Genetic variation in narrow leafed lupin (NLL) accessions and breeding programs. The centre of origin of a crop plant is expected to have the greatest extant genetic variation of wild relatives. Development of modern cultivars may be accompanied by a severe genetic bottleneck, whereby subsequent breeding efforts are hampered by lack of significant genetic variation within domesticated breeding material. This proposal will research the extent to which the available genetic variation in wild acces ....Genetic variation in narrow leafed lupin (NLL) accessions and breeding programs. The centre of origin of a crop plant is expected to have the greatest extant genetic variation of wild relatives. Development of modern cultivars may be accompanied by a severe genetic bottleneck, whereby subsequent breeding efforts are hampered by lack of significant genetic variation within domesticated breeding material. This proposal will research the extent to which the available genetic variation in wild accessions of the recently developed crop Lupinus angustifolius has been utilised in breeding programs around the world. Results will be applied to broaden the gene pool and improve adaptation of new cultivars in the National Lupin Improvement Program.Read moreRead less