Investment

Crown rust or leaf rust, caused by Puccinia coronata f. sp. avenae, is a significant oat foliar disease. Breeding for durable rust resistant oat cultivars is challenging due to rapid changes in the pathogen population. Through leveraging domestic and international networks and using the latest technical advances, this GRDC and CSIRO project will deliver solutions for oat rust via optimal combinations of resistance genes, including adult plant resistance, and detailed studies of the pathogen genome to guide deployment of rust resistant oat cultivars. The program will be adopting the use of genetic markers to support breeding efforts for rust resistance, enable genomic selection, and facilitate the incorporation of additional oat traits. The project will also seek to survey rust populations by using the latest sequencing and computational techniques including artificial intelligence and in-field pathogen surveys to rapidly learn of changes in the pathogen population. Such information is critical for alerting breeders and growers and assists them to make decisions. To connect with the CSIRO scientific team and learn more about this GRDC CSIRO project, please visit https://www.csiro.au/oatrust.