• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News

Public wheat breeder consortium to be developed by USDA grant

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
December 19, 2016
in Science News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
ADVERTISEMENT
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram
IMAGE

Credit: (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Kay Ledbetter)

AMARILLO – Texas A&M AgriLife Research's wheat genetic and breeding programs will have genes in play when a multi-state, multi-agency project establishes a nationally coordinated consortium to advance wheat yields.

The Wheat Coordinated Agricultural Project, titled "Validation, characterization and deployment of QTL for grain yield components in wheat," is a five-year project jointly funded by U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture and International Wheat Yield Partnership.

The first year of funding, $1,696,000, has been released with the following years of funding subject to release based upon continued progress in the grant research.

The primary focus of this consortium of public wheat breeders, molecular geneticists, high-throughput genotyping laboratories, database experts and educators will be on increasing wheat yields.

Developers of the project said surveys of state wheat-grower associations have repeatedly shown grain yield is the main priority for producers and the main determinant of their profits. Increases in kernel weight will also benefit grain millers, because this trait is highly correlated with increases in flour yield.

The project will be led by the University of California-Davis and include most university-based and USDA-Agricultural Research Service public wheat breeding programs.

Contributing to the major effort to improve wheat yields dramatically over the next decade from AgriLife Research will be wheat geneticist Dr. Shuyu Liu, Amarillo, and wheat breeders Dr. Amir Ibrahim, College Station, and Dr. Jackie Rudd, Amarillo.

"AgriLife Research's TAM 111 is currently the most planted hard red winter wheat cultivar in the U.S., and its derivatives have been used in many wheat breeding programs," Liu said.

The project will allow the TAM wheat breeding team to hire a doctoral student to follow through on genetic testing of TAM 111, he said. The student will deploy a variety of techniques to identify and study the functionality of candidate genes for the major quantitative trait loci, or QTL, identified in TAM 111 for higher yield.

"Since TAM 111 and its derivatives have been used in many wheat breeding programs as parents, the knowledge will be very helpful for wheat breeders," Liu said.

The project was developed because increases in the global wheat production required to feed a growing population is currently hampered by limited knowledge of the genes controlling wheat yield. Identification of these genes is a necessary first step to understand how they interact and shape the pathways that regulate yield.

Genetic variations of grain yield and its components can be used to identify candidate genes, such as those in TAM 111, and the use of new genomic tools will provide a unique opportunity to clone the underlying genes, Liu said.

The U.S. scientists will partner with International Wheat and Maize Improvement Center, or CIMMYT, researchers to transfer these underlying genes into wheat lines from CIMMYT in Mexico to be used to improve varieties worldwide, he said. The group also identified a long-term constraint to future increases in wheat production in the U.S. as the limited number of trained plant breeders. This project will train 15 doctoral students in plant breeding, integrating field, laboratory and bioinformatics skills, including the one with AgriLife Research.

According to the project outline, public breeding programs within the universities are essential to providing plant breeding students with integrated training, including field and laboratory experiences. Centralized workshops will allow doctoral students to benefit from the collective group expertise.

###

Additional expected research outcomes include finding perfect markers for genes regulating grain yield components and develop genotypic and phenotypic information for a large number of breeding lines organized in a database to serve wheat breeders worldwide.

Media Contact

Dr. Shuyu Liu
[email protected]
806-677-5600
@texasagwriter

http://today.agrilife.org

############

Story Source: Materials provided by Scienmag

Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Imaging Breakthroughs Reveal Early Parkinson’s Signs

Imaging Breakthroughs Reveal Early Parkinson’s Signs

June 18, 2025
blank

Navigating New Frontiers: ESG Lending and Tech Investments Propel Stability and Growth in BRICS Banks

June 18, 2025

Breakthrough in 30-Year Micronutrient Mystery Paves Way for Innovative Medical Research

June 18, 2025

Generating Electricity from Heat Using Electron Traffic Jams

June 18, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Green brake lights in the front could reduce accidents

    Study from TU Graz Reveals Front Brake Lights Could Drastically Diminish Road Accident Rates

    161 shares
    Share 64 Tweet 40
  • New Study Uncovers Unexpected Side Effects of High-Dose Radiation Therapy

    76 shares
    Share 30 Tweet 19
  • Pancreatic Cancer Vaccines Eradicate Disease in Preclinical Studies

    71 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 18
  • How Scientists Unraveled the Mystery Behind the Gigantic Size of Extinct Ground Sloths—and What Led to Their Demise

    65 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Imaging Breakthroughs Reveal Early Parkinson’s Signs

Navigating New Frontiers: ESG Lending and Tech Investments Propel Stability and Growth in BRICS Banks

Breakthrough in 30-Year Micronutrient Mystery Paves Way for Innovative Medical Research

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.