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
Systemic control of nodule proliferation. We aim to clone and characterize the functions of the supernodulation (NTS-1) locus of soybean using positional cloning and functional genomics approaches. Supernodulation fascinatingly results from a mutant Nts-1 gene functioning in the shoot, although the phenotype is expressed as excessive nodule proliferation in the root. The cloned gene will be used to monitor expression changes after inoculation with Bradyrhizobium, treatment with nitrate, nod-fac ....Systemic control of nodule proliferation. We aim to clone and characterize the functions of the supernodulation (NTS-1) locus of soybean using positional cloning and functional genomics approaches. Supernodulation fascinatingly results from a mutant Nts-1 gene functioning in the shoot, although the phenotype is expressed as excessive nodule proliferation in the root. The cloned gene will be used to monitor expression changes after inoculation with Bradyrhizobium, treatment with nitrate, nod-factor, xylem exudates and phytohormones. We will use RT-PCR, in situ hybridisation and reporter gene expression in transgenic plants. Microarray analysis of soybean ESTs (4200 arrayed) will analyse concurrent gene expression changes in both root and shoot.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