PART 1

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TITLE: NEW SALT-TOLERANT WHEAT SET TO BRING LIFE TO 'DEAD' FARMLAND
SOURCE: The West Australian, Australia
URL: http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=146&ContentID=19077

DATE: 19.01.2007

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NEW SALT-TOLERANT WHEAT SET TO BRING LIFE TO 'DEAD' FARMLAND
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please read more about this non-GE wheat at:
http://www.gene.ch/genet/2004/Aug/msg00004.html

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Scientists have developed a salttolerant wheat which could allow farmers to crop a third of the 1.8 million hectares of agricultural land lost to salinity across the Wheatbelt.

A common weed called sea barley grass, which grows in soils almost as salty as sea water, has been crossbred with a traditional wheat variety to produce a salt and waterlogging tolerant cereal.

Project leader Tim Colmer, of the Co-operative Research Centre for the Plant-Based Management of Dryland Salinity, said the new wheat strain could be sown on moderately salt-affected soils which contained up to one quarter the salt levels of sea water. At these levels, it is no longer viable for farmers to grow traditional grain varieties because of severe losses in crop yields.

While the bulk of wheat grown in WA is the high-value bread or noodle variety, the hybrid wheat produces smaller grains and will be used in the stock feed industry.

The new wheat is the result of five years work by University of WA researchers ”” in collaboration with the University of Adelaide ”” and uses traditional crossing between related species. It does not include genetically modified organisms.

Field trials are due within 18 months and, if successful, a new variety is set to be commercially available within four years.

Dr Colmer said farmers could use the wheat on hundreds of thousands of hectares of waterlogged country across the Wheatbelt which is currently not cropped, potentially adding millions of dollars annually to WA’s grain industry.

About 1000ha ”” or 10 per cent ”” of Tammin farmer Tony York’s property is salt-affected and is no longer viable for cropping with existing grain varieties.

Mr York predicts that the new wheat will give him the option to crop up to half of that area.

PART 2

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TITLE: NEW PINTO BEAN RESISTS VIRAL DISEASES
SOURCE: USDA Agricultural Research Service, USA
URL: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2007/070111.htm

DATE: 11.01.2007

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NEW PINTO BEAN RESISTS VIRAL DISEASES
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Miklas and colleagues developed Quincy from a cross between Othello, a popular commercial pinto cultivar, and the black bean germplasm line A-55. While Quincy resists BCMV and BCMNV and fends off curly top virus, it's susceptible to Uromyces appendiculatus, the fungus that causes bean rust disease.
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"Quincy," a hardy new pinto bean, could give growers and breeders added insurance against attack by the bean common mosaic virus (BCMV).

The cultivar harbors two genes, I and bc-22, that confer resistance to all known strains of BCMV””plus bean common mosaic necrosis virus (BCMNV)””reports Phil Miklas. The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) plant geneticist is handling seed requests at the ARS Vegetable and Forage Crops Production Research Unit, Prosser, Wash. Foundation seed for growers is available from the Washington State Crop Improvement Association.

In pinto and other dry beans, severe outbreaks of the two viruses can inflict seed-yield losses up to 60 percent. They threaten the $512-million annual dry bean crop in California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, Nebraska, North Dakota and Washington. Also at risk are $190 million worth of snap beans from Florida, Illinois, New York, Oregon, Wisconsin and other states.

Quincy is the first commercial pinto with this specific combination of genes to completely control the seedborne BCMV and BCMNV spread between plants by aphids. Insecticide spraying, clean-seed programs and sanitation are the standard controls, but genetic resistance is the keystone defense.

Miklas and colleagues developed Quincy from a cross between Othello, a popular commercial pinto cultivar, and the black bean germplasm line A-55. While Quincy resists BCMV and BCMNV and fends off curly top virus, it's susceptible to Uromyces appendiculatus, the fungus that causes bean rust disease.

In field trials, Quincy produced seed yields consistently higher than Othello and another cultivar, Burke. The tests were conducted in Washington, Colorado and other states under optimal and high-stress conditions, including soils with little residual nitrogen or moisture. Quincy's plants generally grew taller than Othello's but took four to seven days longer to mature. Quincy's seed is slightly larger than Othello's and has comparable canning properties.

Matt Silbernagel (retired, formerly ARS) and An Hang of Washington State University-Prosser collaborated with Miklas on the new pinto bean's development, testing and evaluation.

ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.