A team of scientists, including some from CSIRO, has identified a promising resistance gene that could help fight the devastating stem rust fungus that attacks wheat crops and threatens global food security.

The researchers also identified a gene in the fungus that triggers this resistance in the host plant. Together, these discoveries provide a pathway to help wheat growers defend against the disease.

Stem rust is one of the world’s most devastating plant diseases and has become a major threat to wheat crops in Africa and other regions. There is an urgent need for breeders and growers to access more-resistant germplasm, particularly in developing countries where the fungicides used to combat rust disease can be expensive or unavailable.

CSIRO chief research scientist Dr Peter Dodds says this is yet another weapon in the armoury to stay one step ahead of wheat stem rust globally.

“Discovery of this resistance gene continues our effective collaboration with international partners that has already resulted in great advances to build resistance to this potentially devastating pathogen,” Dr Dodds says.

The new research will help scientists  and wheat breeders to introduce multiple resistance genes into a wheat variety to build durable resistance to wheat rusts. This novel approach to providing durable resistance has been pioneered by CSIRO and the US-based non-profit 2Blades Foundation.

Screening advance allows targeted disease-resistant crop breeding

Scientists from Western Australia have developed tools to identify plant genes resistant to disease-causing fungi  that can be deployed by plant breeders to create more-resistant crops, leading to increases in productivity and requiring fewer inputs.

Blackleg, a disease-causing fungus that can wipe out crops, is a serious problem for canola growers, with an average 10 per cent yield loss per year.

Researchers from the University of Western Australia’s Batley Lab set out to investigate the evolution of the resistance genes against blackleg to develop a durable resistance mechanism to the disease for breeders and growers.

Using genome sequencing, the team developed a screening platform that can identify the genes that underlie resistance against blackleg in canola plants. The resistance genes can then be deployed in breeding programs to protect canola crops nationwide.

Laboratory leader Professor Jacqueline Batley says that by better understanding plant resistance genes, and identifying how they interact with pathogens, it is possible to improve crops, yields and economic outcomes for growers.

“There is a global need for sustainable food production and to reduce the use of chemicals on the land with less economic loss,” Professor Batley says. “We need to make sure that we have sources of resistance across all plant species so that we have enough food on our table in the future as the population grows.

“Once you can understand the DNA, identify the genes and look at what’s causing certain traits, you can apply this to other species.”

The work was undertaken in collaboration with researchers at the University of Melbourne.

GM Golden Rice a reality after decades of work

Growers in the Philippines will become the first in the world to grow vitamin-enriched genetically modified (GM) rice after receiving approval from the country’s regulators.

Developed by the Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rice Research Institute in partnership with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Golden Rice contains additional levels of beta-carotene, which the body converts into vitamin A.

Vitamin A deficiency affects an estimated 190 million children worldwide, including about 20 per cent of children from the poorest communities in the Philippines.

“This milestone puts the Philippines at the global forefront in leveraging agricultural research to address the issues of malnutrition and related health impacts in a safe and sustainable way,” says IRRI director general Dr Jean Balie.

This new variety has already received food safety approvals from regulators in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US. Bangladesh is in line to be the second country to grow Golden Rice, with final approvals pending.

IRRI is currently developing high iron and zinc rice, with the end goal of releasing a stacked variety containing beta-carotene, iron and zinc that can help address multiple micronutrient deficiencies affecting more than two billion people worldwide.

Professors Ingo Potrykus and Peter Beyer developed the concept for the Golden Rice variety in the late 1980s.

Genome-edited wheat field trial gets UK go-ahead

Gene-edited wheat developed by the UK’s Rothamsted Research institute will undergo field trials for up to five years following approvals by the Government.

The wheat has been edited to reduce levels of the naturally occurring amino acid asparagine, which is converted to a carcinogenic processing contaminant, acrylamide, when bread is baked or toasted.

Professor Nigel Halford says the aim of the project is to produce ultra-low asparagine, non-GM wheat.

“Acrylamide has been a very serious problem for food manufacturers since being discovered in food in 2002 … It occurs in bread and increases substantially when the bread is toasted but is also present in other wheat products and many crop-derived foods that are fried, baked, roasted or toasted, including crisps and other snacks, chips, roast potatoes and coffee,” he says.

During development in the laboratory, researchers ‘knocked out’ the asparagine synthetase gene, TaASN2, which led to substantially reduced asparagine concentrations in the grain of the edited plants.

Under European Union regulations, genome-edited plants are currently treated in the same way as GM, which has essentially blocked the use of a technology rapidly gaining official approval in many other parts of the world, according to researchers.

GM corn trial shows yield potential in Nigeria

A genetically modified corn variety resistant to stem borers and fall armyworm as well as being drought-tolerant is yielding triple that of the nation’s best-producing commercial corn variety in field trials underway in Nigeria.

The corn was developed through an international collaboration coordinated by the African Agricultural Technology Foundation, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and Bayer Crop Science, with national agricultural research systems in Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.

Researchers will next work towards achieving regulatory approval from the National Biosafety Management Agency in Nigeria to secure environmental release for the so-called  TELA Maize.

More information: Agricultural Biotechnology Council of Australia.