Biotech Updates

ARS Set to Release New Disease-Resistant Wheat

December 7, 2007

The US Agricultural Research Service (ARS) will release a new wheat variety resistant to the wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV). The new variety, called Mace, harbors the gene Wsm-1, which confers resistance to the virus.

WSMV is spread by the wheat curl mite. Previous attempts to control the insect vector, by applying pesticides, proved to be unsuccessful. In the Great Plains (states like Oklahoma, Kansas, North Dakota, etc.), annual WSMV outbreaks reduce wheat yield by as much as five percent. Losses can be higher, like in the 1995 outbreak in Montana, which caused $35 million in yield losses. In field trials, Mace produced grain yields comparable to commercial varieties. In virus infected fields, however, the new variety’s yield surpassed the commercial varieties’ produce by two to three times.

Read more at http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=1261