Plant Pathology Commons^™

Resistance To Aflatoxin Accumulation In Maize Mediated By Host-Induced Gene Silencing Of Aspergillus Flavus Alkaline Protease And O-Methyltransferase-A Genes, Olanike Omotola Omolehin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Aspergillus flavus is a soil-borne fungal pathogen that infects maize and produces aflatoxins. In the current study, portions of the alkaline protease (alk) and the O-methyl transferase (omtA) genes, which are key in A. flavus virulence and aflatoxin biosynthesis, respectively, were targeted for suppression through an RNAi (RNA interference) approach known as Host-Induced Gene Silencing (HIGS). Separate RNAi vectors were designed to carry regions of the alk and omtA gene fragments (Alk-RNAi and OmtA-RNAi) and introduced into B104 maize zygotic embryos. Eight and six transformation events were positive for the alk and omtA transgene, respectively. …

Crop Updates 2003 - Cereals, Graham Crosbie, Robert Loughman, Collin Wellings, Greg Shea, Simon Mckirdy, Neil C. Turner, Brenda Shackley, Wal Anderson, Darshan Sharma, Mohammad Amjad, Steve Penny Jr, Melanie Kupsch, Anne Smith, Veronika Reck, Pam Burgess, Glenda Smith, Elizabeth Tierney, Peter Burges, Moin Salam, Megan Collins, Art Diggle, Blakely Paynter, Roslyn Jetter, Kevin Young, Jocelyn Ball, Natasha Littlewood, Lucy Anderton, Irene Waters, Tim Setter, Jeff Russell, Reg Lance, Chengdao Li, Sue Broughton, Michael Jones, Grace Zawko, Keith Gregg, Stephen Loss, Frank Ripper, Ryan Guthrie, Daniel Bell, Patrick Gethin, Narelle Hill, Laurence Caeslake, Vivien Vanstone, Sean Kelly, Helen Hunter, Christopher R. Newman

Crop Updates

This session covers twenty one papers from different authors:

PLENARY

1. Recognising and responding to new market opportunities in the grains industry, Graham Crosbie, Manager, Grain Products Research, Crop Breeding, Plant Industries, Department of Agriculture

2. Stripe rust – where to now for the WA wheat industry? Robert Loughman¹, Colin Wellings² and Greg Shea¹¹Department of Agriculture, ²University of Sydney Plant Breeding Institute, Cobbitty (on secondment from NSW Agriculture)

3. Benefits of a Grains Biosecurity Plan, Dr Simon McKirdy, Plant Health Australia, Mr Greg Shea, Department of Agriculture

4. Can we improve …

Developing Improved Varieties Of Subterranean Clover, Phil Nichols, Bill Collins, Dennis Gillespie, Martin Barbetti

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Subterranean clover is widely recognised as the most important pasture legume species in southern Australia, having been sown over about 20 million hectares.

Together with superphosphate and trace elements, it has been a key factor in improving and maintaining soil fertility, and has resulted in dramatic increases in crop, livestock and wool production.

While the value of subterranean clover is well established, it does have some shortcomings.

Many varieties grown today are not sufficiently adapted to the environments and management systems in use. Others lack sufficient pest and disease resistance.

Improved subterranean clovers are being bred with better adaptation and …

Breeding Field Peas : Screening Pea Lines, G H. Walton

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The early use of field peas in Western Australia was as a green manure crop or to feed stock be grazing the mature crop. Varieties which produced a large bulk of green material were sown. There was no control over insects or diseases.

In 1985, the Feseral Government recognised that to realize the potential of grain legumes grown throughout Australia, more research was needed.

One of the Grain Legume Research Council's (GLRC) priorities is species evaluation and variety improvement.

Since 1983, the Western Australian Department of Agriculture has screened advanced crossbred lines from the South Australian breeding programme for its …

Phomopsis-Resistanct Lupins : Breakthrough Towards The Control Of Lupinosis, W A. Cowling, J. G. Allen, P Mcr. Wood, J. Hamblin

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Attemots to control lupinosis in sheep have been thwarted by the unpredictable occurence of the disease in the field. The complex interaction of the toxin-producing fungus (Phomopsis leptostromiformis) with its host (the lupin plant), together with variable weather and paddock grazing conditions, have made it difficult to predict when stock are in danger of contracting the disease. The risk of lupinosis discourages many farmers from growing lupins, despite the many potential benefits of including them in crop rotations.

A team of Department of Agriculture plant breeders, plant pathologists, and animal scientists set out in the mid 1970s to find resistance …

Barley Breeding Update, P A. Portmann

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Barley production in Western Australia has increased over the past few years, peaking at 1.42 million tonnes in 1984. The European Economic Community, however, has flooded world markets for barley and over half of ourbarley was sold for feed to Saudi Arabia last year. Current prices therefore have declined as has the total area sown to barley in this State.

Despite this, the potential to increase barley yields is most promising. The Department of Agriculture has cross-bred lines in advanced stages of field testing which could increase yield by 10 per cent across the agricultural areas.

In the longer term, …

Breeding A Barley Resistant To Leaf Disease, T N. Khan, P. A. Portmann

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

In the last few years the Department of Agriculture has begun a programme to produce brley varieties resistant to the leaf diseases, scald and net blotch. These diseases cause substantial losses that may not be apparent to an individual farmer.

Breeding Better Rape And Lineseed For Western Australia, N N. Roy, J. Reeves

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Rapeseed and linseed—the main oil seed crops grown in the south-west of Western Australia—have both been beset by problems which have limited farmers' interest in them.

Rapeseed was first grown commercially in 1970, when wheat quotas and low prices for other cereals forced farmers to seek alternative cash crops. The area sown to rapeseed increased rapidly, but disastrous outbreaks of the disease blackleg caused rapid decline, and little rapeseed is now sown.

Linseed has been grown in W.A. for more than 30 years. Linseed rust proved disastrous but was overcome by the introduction and breedbreeding of rust-resistant varieties. In recent …

The Art And Science Of Plant Breeding, John Sylvester Gladstones

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Whether he has known it or not, man has influenced the evolution of plants throughout his whole existence. In the pre-agricultural state he collected fruits and seeds from plants chosen for their useful or desirable qualities, and dispersed them wherever he went. With the neolithic revolution and the development of agriculture, some of these plants were taken into cultivation.

Consciously or unconsciously he selected types with higher yield, which germinated readily when planted, and whose seeds stayed in the head at maturity rather than being shed as in the wild grasses and legumes. Over thousands of years this "guided evolution" …

Wheat Breeding And Variety Trials, 1963-64, J T. Reeves

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

A review of the wheat breeding and pedigree seed production by the Department of Agriculture.

Yields from the wheat variety trials at agricultural research stations during the 1963-64 season are presented and discussed.