Wheat
Climate Change Adaptation of Wheat Production in Germany through Plant Breeding
Persons in charge: Antje Kunert, Michael Schmolke
Project duration: 01.07.2006 – 30.06.2009
Project partners: Klaus Keuler, Kai Radtke, BTU Cottbus; Alberte Bondeau, Frank Wechsung, PIK; Hermann Lotze-Campen, Steffen Noleppa, agripol; Harald von Witzke, Thordis Möller, HU Berlin; Jens Weyen, SURL; Stefan Lütke-Entrup, GFP
Project management agency: German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
Project description:
In recent years, observed annual wheat yield increases in Germany were close to zero. A major reason are increasingly dry conditions in early summer, which lead to an early termination of the grain filling period. Stabilisation of crop yields will be predominantly achieved by the development of new varieties through plant breeding.
This project is going to examine early flowering as an escape mechanism to counteract the increasing early summer drought stress in Germany. In order to determine the capability of early flowering in wheat, germplasm is being examined which shows considerable genetic variation in flowering time, thus providing adaptability to a wide range of environments throughout the world. Nevertheless, the interaction of different loci influencing flowering time often masks a clear-cut segregation of distinct genes and therefore handling of individual genes for breeding purposes becomes a difficult task. These obstacles could be overcome by employing molecular markers that are closely linked to genes of interest, consequently making the selection process much more efficient.
A wide range of spring wheat breeding lines from all over the world as well as European cultivars will be analysed with molecular markers to determine which of the known genes are present. In parallel, doubled haploid (DH) mapping populations derived from Mexican wheat lines (CIMMYT) and German spring wheat varieties will be used to identify new monogenic as well as quantitative loci with an influence on flowering time. In addition, all plant material under molecular examination will be phenotypically characterized in field trials and in the greenhouse. This plant material will be used to combine most suitable loci for early flowering which eventually will be transferred into modern winter wheat varieties.
