Wheat pre-breeding at NIAB: from germplasm to genomics

In 2007, the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB), UK, embarked on a pioneering programme of wheat pre-breeding to deliver systematically developed and validated resources for wheat improvement. This translational programme bridges the gap between fundamental discoveries in model plant species and commercial breeding. To date NIAB has produced a wealth of genetic resources in commercially relevant genetic backgrounds for rapid uptake into breeding. The programme outputs include precisely defined germplasm (near-isogenic lines), user-friendly high-throughput genetic markers (for marker assisted selection), multi-founder populations and re-synthesised wheat incorporating untapped genetic diversity.

This presentation will describe the range of wheat pre-breeding activities at NIAB with emphasis on the application of genetic information within the programme. This includes work to understand the manipulation of the photoperiod response gene Ppd-1 as a strategy to adapt elite varieties to the prospect of shorter, hotter, drier growing seasons via creation of a near-isogenic series. It also encompasses the search for new genetic diversity from wheat’s wild relatives which is achieved via targeted re-synthesis of the hexaploid (AABBDD) wheat genome. In the first iteration of this work we used re-synthesised wheat lines developed at the International Wheat and Maize Centre (CIMMYT) and produced advanced lines in two commercially relevant backgrounds. This material has shown promising potential in early trials and has attracted the attention of commercial breeding partners. More recently, as part of the UK public-sector wheat pre-breeding programme WISP (http://www.wheatisp.org), we have been mining wheat’s D-genome donor, Aegilops tauschii, for additional diversity. In parallel we are exploring A- and B-genome diversity from durum, cultivated and wild emmer wheat. Next-generation germplasm resources, such as the NIAB elite 8- and 16-founder MAGIC populations, together with our elite European wheat association mapping panels also offer the potential to extend our understanding of the application of association mapping and genomic selection for trait improvement. 

Host: Andrea Harper