Investment

GRDC Code: UOA2402-015RTX

[OSRC] Program 1 - Accelerating transfer of oat septoria resistant sources to Australian oat breeders

To capitalise on growth opportunities in oats, it is important to increase Australia's oat production capacity and stability. Reducing grain yield losses to disease is an important mechanism by which growers can increase production. Septoria leaf blotch (SLB), causal agent Parastagonospora avenae, is a stubble-borne fungal disease of primary concern for oat production throughout Australia. It occurs throughout all cereal growing areas of Australia and is especially problematic in the major oat production state of Western Australia (WA) where almost all oat crops (90%) have some level of septoria infection. The disease has significant impacts on grain yield/quality and reduces quality of hay. Septoria infection can cause up to 50% grain yield loss in susceptible varieties, although 10-15% loss is more common. In susceptible varieties, SLB can also significantly increase screenings, reduce grain weight, and stain grain, leading to grain downgrading and yet further economic losses.

While genetic resistance is the most economical, sustainable, and environmentally friendly method for controlling the disease, the best milling commercial lines have disease ratings of moderately susceptible or below. A lack of resistant varieties means growers must rely on cultural practices (e.g. longer crop rotations), which constrain oat production potential, and on chemical control measures, which come with an economic cost to growers. Relying on chemical control alone is also an industry risk given the eventual probability of SLB adapting and developing fungicide resistance.

To help deliver solutions, GRDC is supporting 3 research programs consolidated into an Oat Septoria Research Consortium (OSRC), which will see Australia's leading oat Septoria research groups from SARDI, Murdoch Uni, DPIRD, and Curtin Uni, unite in an effort with industry to deploy new high yielding oat varieties that are genetically resistant to SLB.

Program 1- Accelerating Transfer of Resistant Sources to Australian Oat Breeders.
Under Program 1 of the OSRC, promising resistance sources will be:

Interrogated for novel genetic regions and associated markers linked to SLB resistance.
Introgressed into Australian adapted oat genetic background from non-adapted germplasm (using rapid generation techniques).
Combined to understand whether the pyramiding of sources provides a higher level of resistance than when each source is deployed individually - and which combination are most effective.
Novel sources in adapted backgrounds will be grown in a range of Australian production environments across multiple seasons to validate that these sources provide improved resistance beyond the poor MS/S resistances found in current dominant oat cultivars.

Associated activities,

Breeder-deployable molecular selection tools will be developed to facilitate breeder use of these sources.
Novel approaches explored in parallel (e.g. AI-informed gene pyramiding designs).

Program 1 will also continue with the Septoria population monitoring program which will include;

evolving the Host Differential set
continued development of an oat Septoria pathogen genomic resource

Project start date:

14/05/2024

Project end date:

30/04/2029

Crop type:

Oats, (Cereal)

Organisation

The University of Adelaide

Region:

North, South, West

Project status

Active

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