U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 close



Research
                Research Home
                            National Programs
                            Research Projects
                            Scientific Manuscripts
                            International Engagement
                            Scientific Software/Models
                            Databases and Datasets
                            Office of Scientific Quality Review
            Media
                News & Features
                            Multimedia
                            Briefing Room
                            Down on the Farm
                            Press Room
                            Science in Your Shopping Cart
                            Scientific Discoveries
                            Tellus
                            Under the Microscope
            About ARS
                About ARS Home
                            Staff Directory
                            Labs and Research Centers (Map)
                            Headquarter Offices
                            Organizational Chart
                            Employee Services (REE Employees Only)
                            Office of Outreach, Diversity, and Equal Opportunity
            Work With Us
                Work With Us Home
                            ARS Vacancies at USAJOBS
                            Careers at ARS Information
                            Scientific Collaborations
                            Extramural Agreements
                            1890 Faculty Research Sabbatical ProgramSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home News & Events News Articles Research News 2019





- ARS@Work
- Blog
- Down on the Farm
- Image Gallery
- News Archive
- Podcasts
- Press Room
- Science in Your Shopping Cart
- Scientific Discoveries
- Tellus
- Under the Microscope
- YouTube Channel

hoto by Guihua Bai/ARS.
 ARS Efforts Should Help Ensure Our Wheat Supply By Dennis O'Brien June 10, 2019 **MANHATTAN, KANSAS, June 10, 2019**—Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and their partners published a study today that should boost efforts to develop new varieties of wheat that are better equipped to resist a fungal disease that threatens global wheat production each year. The report in *Nature Genetics*, by Guihua Bai and his colleagues identifies a key gene that could be used as an important genetic resource by wheat breeders worldwide to address the constant challenge posed by Fusarium head blight (FHB). FHB, also known as "scab," thrives in warm and moist conditions and is becoming an increasing threat worldwide because of the unpredictable weather patterns brought on by climate change and an increasing trend toward more corn production and no-till farming, which both increase the availability of the pathogen in fields. The disease has caused an estimated $2.7 billion in losses, in Minnesota alone since the 1990s, and forced many wheat and barley farmers there into bankruptcy. Growers often use fungicides to control it. Bai, a plant molecular geneticist with the ARS Central Small Grain Genotyping Laboratory, in Manhattan, Kansas, and his colleagues showed that a gene, known as *TaHRC*, plays a key role in conferring resistance to FHB. The findings may be applied to breeding improved varieties of wheat, the researchers say. The best FHB resistance in today's wheat varieties and germplasm is largely based on a suite of genes discovered years ago in a Chinese wheat variety known as Sumai 3 and its derivatives. But pinpointing the specific genes that are the sources of resistance within genomic regions—which would help breeders move them into locally adapted wheats to develop new varieties—has proved to be challenging. Screening experimental plants for disease resistance traits requires inoculating thousands of plants in disease screening nurseries and evaluating results that are often inconsistent. This screening process must be repeated over several growing seasons and often multiple locations to ensure that a desirable gene, or trait, is passed down to subsequent generations. The discovery is the result of more than 10 years of research by an international team that used both modern genomic tools and traditional genetic techniques. In their study, the researchers managed to confirm the role played by the *TaHRC* gene by essentially "switching it off," which modified production of key proteins and significantly increased FHB resistance. Inactivating the gene in such a way does not produce wheat that is genetically modified or with an increased risk of triggering gluten allergies, the researchers say. Since the natural variant of *TaHRC* is available in Sumai 3 and its derivatives, it can be transferred into new wheat varieties through traditional breeding. Bai's lab also developed DNA tags that can be used to quickly and accurately select breeding lines without having to screen thousands of wheat lines in large nurseries. Along with Bai, study authors include Paul St. Amand, a plant geneticist with the ARS Hard Winter Wheat Genetics Research Unit in Manhattan, and a team from Kansas State University that included Zhenqi Su, Amy Bernardo, Bin Tian, Hui Chen and Harold Trick. The paper can be found here https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-019-0425-8. *The Agricultural Research Service is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific in-house research agency. Daily, ARS focuses on solutions to agricultural problems affecting America. Each dollar invested in agricultural research results in $20 of economic impact.*


Return to top


Research
                            Media
                            About ARS
                            Work With Us


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov