Researchers Identify Frost Tolerance Genes in Wheat

An international team of researchers, led by Jorge Dubcovsky from the University of California-Davis, have pinpointed the genes in wheat that are responsible for the plant’s tolerance to freezing temperature. The discovery may boost the efforts of wheat breeders to breed hardier varieties.

The research team had previously identified a group of 11 genes on wheat chromosome 5AL. These genes play a major role in regulating a large number of other genes that confer tolerance to cold temperatures. The team found out that frost-tolerant wheat varieties activated two of these genes earlier that frost-susceptible varieties when exposed to decreasing temperatures.

“The next step will be to examine the differences in freezing tolerance among winter wheat varieties to determine which genes are present and active in the hardiest varieties, such as from Russia, Ukraine, Canada and other locations with severe winters,” explained project collaborator Kim-Garland Campbell. The team will use these discoveries to screen wheat varieties for the best combination of frost-tolerance genes and then develop genetic markers to accelerate selection of hardier varieties.

The research is funded by the US Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES). The complete article is available at http://www.csrees.usda.gov/newsroom/impact/2009/nri/02091_wheat_frost.html