Investment
Investment
GRDC Code: UOQ2401-011RSX
GRS 2024 (Madhav Pandit) - Harnessing novel haplotypes for barley leaf rust resistance: a genomic approach to sustainable crop protection
Leaf rust epidemics pose a significant threat to Australian barley production and there is a need to accelerate innovative control methods and minimise our reliance on conventional crop protection that typically comes with high economic and environmental cost. The deployment of durable genetic resistance within new barley varieties is the most economical, efficient and ecologically sustainable approach to controlling the disease. However, evolution of virulent strains of leaf rust remains inevitable, thus a continual pipeline and strategy of deployment for novel sources of durable genetic resistance in Australian barley breeding is vital. This project aims to leverage diverse barley genetic resources to catalogue both known and novel leaf rust resistance genes or haplotypes. To achieve this, the latest predictive breeding technologies will be used to establish a public catalogue of leaf rust resistance spanning the genetic diversity currently present within Australia and identify sources that offer stable resistance across environments and minimal trade-offs on other disease traits. Concurrently, the project will develop a breeder's toolbox to enable rapid integration of novel source of resistance in breeding programs, thus supporting the development of new barley varieties with durable leaf rust resistance for Australian grain growers.
- Project start date:
- 01/01/2024
- Project end date:
- 31/03/2027
- Crop type:
-
- All Crops
- Organisation
- The University of Queensland
- Region:
- North, South, West
- Project status
-
Active