Wild Wheat as a Source for Enhancing Drought Adaptation in Wheat
A seminar by Heuermann Chair and DWFI Faculty Fellow Harkamal Walia
Harkamal Walia, University of Nebraska–Lincoln associate professor of agronomy and horticulture, DWFI Faculty Fellow, and Heuermann Chair of Agronomy and DWFI will present a special seminar via Zoom to discuss recent studies surrounding wild wheat to enhance drought adaptation this Thursday, May 7.
Drought is a major limiting factor for wheat production. Wild wheat germplasm can serve as a valuable genetic resource for improving wheat drought adaptation. For instance, the wild emmer wheat (T. turgidum ssp. dicoccoides) genepool is known to harbor rich allelic diversity for several important traits, including drought adaptation. However, these genetic resource remains largely untapped.
In an effort to introduce this genetic variation, Walia and his team have developed introgression lines of wild emmer accession Zavitan into elite durum wheat Svevo. More specifically, their characterization of the introgression lines has focused on identifying wild alleles that enhance phenotypic plasticity, especially in root architecture under water-limiting environment. The team has combined image-based, high-resolution phenomics with physiological characterization to identify the most divergent introgression lines. Molecular characterization of a subset of these lines is being pursued with genomics and transcriptome analyses. Walia and researchers aim to identify the wild alleles/genes that are effective in enhancing the wheat germplasm for drought adaptability.
Any questions or comments may be sent to Rachael Herpel, Assistant Director, at rherpel@nebraska.edu. The zoom link will be live at the time of the seminar.
Join via Zoom