BGRI Newsletter / 2015 No

Transcription

1 BGRI Newsletter 2015 No. 1 Contents Generations Meet at the World Food Prize Wheat Briefs Events and Opportunities Recent Publications People in the News Online Resources From the Field Generations meet at World Food Prize "I feel the force in this room of future leaders and specialists," said Dr Sanjaya Rajaram, 2014 World Food Prize Laureate, speaking to more than 150 high school students from the US and around the world, on October 18 in Des Moines, Iowa. The students, participants in the Global Youth Institute, came to Des Moines to attend the three-day Borlaug Dialogue Symposium, to present their research and discuss food security issues with peers and esteemed international experts. One of those experts was Rajaram, former head of the Global Wheat Program at CIMMYT and director of Integrated Gene Management with ICARDA, who was chosen as the 2014 Laureate for his lifelong dedication to helping combat world hunger. Rajaram joins an exclusive group of 39 previous World Food Prize laureates dating back to the prize's founding of the Prize by Norman Borlaug in More than 60 past Laureates and other experts were in attendance at the Youth Institute this year. In 1994, seeing a need to cultivate a new generation of agricultural scientists of the highest caliber, and future World Food Prize candidates, John Ruan and Norman Borlaug started the Global Youth Institute. Students compete for a chance to connect with other students from around the world, tour cutting-edge industrial and research facilities, and take part in symposia discussions with global leaders in science, industry and policy. They also have opportunities for paid internships around the world. Betsy Hobbs, a McCutcheon High School student from Lafayette, Indiana, reflected on her participation in the 2014 Global Youth Institute, "We didn t get a grade. We didn t get extra credit. We really did it for that good feeling inside that we could make a difference. She feels the force too.. For more information about the Global Youth Institute, visit Watch the proceedings of the Borlaug Dialogue Symposium and the World Food Prize presentation to Rajaram: BGRI Newsletter / 2015 No

2 videos/ Wheat Briefs Searching for resistance in wild wheat Bread wheat originated from the hybridization of three different wild progenitor species. These progenitors are genetically diverse and have been the source of many economically important genes for cultivated wheat improvement, especially with respect to disease resistance. Read more... CRP- WHEAT management and governance changes Guided by 2014 recommendations of the CGIAR Independent Evaluation Arrangement, WHEAT has established a new, Independent Steering Committee, appointed a WHEAT Director and will help CIMMYT and ICARDA to set up a single, global wheat research and development program for both centers. Read more... JIC and TGAC identify new genetic markers to combat yellow rust disease in wheat Research provides a new mechanism to identify whether or not a variant of wheat DNA contains the resistance gene Yr15. Funded by the BBSRC, and led by Dr Cristobal Uauy at the John Innes Centre, and Ricardo Ramirez-Gonzalez and Dr Mario Caccamo at The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC), the research allows more accurate identification of which plants should be used in breeding schemes to ensure that the next generation of wheat will have the resistance gene. Read more... Events and Opportunities BGRI 2015 Technical Workshop. Registration is open for the workshop to be held September 17-20, 2015, in Sydney, Australia. Details and to register. Call for abstracts for oral presentation ends February 15. Details and guidelines. International Wheat Yield Partnership (IWYP) has initiated its 1st Call for Proposals. IWYP is seeking to fund breakthrough discoveries that will lead to large increases in the genetic yield potential of wheat. The deadline to submit pre-proposals is 15 March Details and instructions. BGRI Gene Stewardship Award recognizes a researcher or team of researchers serving a national breeding program or other nationally based institution. Deadline for nominations is April 15, More information and how to nominate: BGRI Newsletter / 2015 No

3 International Symposium on Genetics and Breeding of Durum Wheat, May 27-30, 2015, Rome. 14th International Cereal Rusts and Powdery Mildews Conference, July 5-8, 2015, Helsingør, Denmark. For more events and opportunities join the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative Linked In group. In the News BARI develops wheat varieties tolerant of heat Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) has developed two wheat varieties tolerant of heat, which are expected to reach farmers by November this year. Read more... Global wheat- rust research aids Ethiopian farmers By 2012, the CIMMYT-derived variety Kakaba covered more than 200,000 hectares in Ethiopia, according to the online Wheat Atlas, and so far remains resistant to yellow rust. Read more... _crop= Borlaug stamp issued in Pakistan On December 4, Pakistan released a postage stamp commemorating the 100th birthday of Dr. Norman Borlaug. A ceremony was held at the National Agricultural Research Center (NARC), in Islamabad to mark the occasion. Ronnie Coffman, co-chair of the BGRI, delivered a short presentation by video, which you can access here: Read more... Recent Publications Complementary epistasis involving Sr12 explains adult plant resistance to stem rust in Thatcher wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). M.N. Rouse, L.E. Talbert, D. Singh, J.D. Sherman. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, July Genome-Wide Association Mapping for Seedling and Adult Plant Resistance to Stripe Rust in Synthetic Hexaploid Wheat. H. Zegeye, A. Rasheed, F. Makdis, A. Badebo. Plosone, August Resistance to stem rust Ug99 in six bread wheat cultivars maps to chromosome 6DS. E.E. Lopez- Vera, S. Nelson, R.P. Singh, B.R. Basnet, S.D. Haley, S. Bhavani, J. Huerta-Espino, B.G. Xoconostle- Cazares, R. Ruiz-Medrano, M.N. Rouse, S. Singh. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, January High-density mapping of a resistance gene to Ug99 from the Iranian landrace PI J.D. Zurn, M. Newcomb, M.N. Rouse, Y. Jin, S. Chao, J. Sthapit, D.R. See, R. Wanyera, P. Njau, J.M. BGRI Newsletter / 2015 No

4 Bonman, R. Brueggeman, M. Acevedo. Molecular Breeding, October People in the News Bram Govaerts, associate director of CIMMYT's Global Conservation Agriculture Program, received the 2014 Borlaug Field Award, and was formally presented with the award on October 16 by Ronnie Coffman at the World Food Prize Foundation in Des Moines, Iowa. The award is given annually to a person under 40 years old, who has made exceptional, science-based achievement in international agriculture and food production, and who has clearly demonstrated Borlaug-like intellectual courage, stamina and determination in the fight to eliminate global hunger and poverty. Read more... Matt Rouse, research plant pathologist with the Cereal Disease Laboratory in St. Paul, Minnesota, was recognized in September by USDA-ARS as an Early Career Research Scientist for his significant contributions in combating wheat stem rust, a major threat to global agriculture and food security. Read more... Arti Singh, post-doctoral fellow with the Semiarid Prairie Agricultural Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, talks about the impact of receiving her WIT award and being a wheat disease scientist. Read more... Wilfred Mwangi, CIMMYT Agricultural Economist. The CIMMYT community celebrates the illustrious life and mourns the passing on 11 December of Wilfred M. Mwangi, distinguished Kenyan scholar, statesman and researcher who dedicated his career to improving the food security and livelihoods of farmers in sub-saharan Africa. Read more... Online Resources Rust Surveillance Workshop, Brazil, October 8-10, 2014, slide presentations are available: The WHEAT Wire is a new quarterly newsletter published by CIMMYT designed to keep you informed about important events and outcomes in the CGIAR Research Program on WHEAT, with a special focus on partners. Read more... WheatAtlas.org is a portal to diverse information on wheat production, markets and research, with particular focus on the developing countries. The information is geographically organized, and can be visualized using maps and charts. RustTracker has up-to-date information on the status of wheat rust diseases. rustracker.org MAS-Wheat contains protocols for marker assisted selection and general lab procedures as well as educational resources related to molecular breeding. maswheat.ucdavis.edu BGRI Newsletter / 2015 No

5 Wheat.org has news about efforts to raise the productivity of wheat farming systems and address the global threat of stem rust disease. wheat.org Globalrust.org: Videos from BGRI events are in the Knowledge Center of the BGRI website. And check out the map of stem rust resistance genes as well as information from the Wheat Rust Atlas broken out gene by gene. More BGRI videos are on YouTube: From the Field Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat project trains Nepal scientists on operations of wheat rust surveillance solutions A two-day long workshop on effective utilization of web and tablet based application in wheat rust surveillance was held in Kathmandu, Nepal, November 12-14, Fourteen scientists participated in the workshop that focused on empowering wheat scientists and rust pathologists on the technical aspects of recording rust surveillance data both on the web and a tablet device. Read more... Arab Countries Take New Direction for Food Security In a landmark policy-level outcome for the Arab world, countries in the region have agreed on a regional partnership on food security to improve their domestic productivity through greater investments in agricultural research. The decision was based on the outcomes of a large-scale wheat productivity improvement initiative, the Arab Food Security Project, which was implemented in 10 countries by a partnership of NARS with ICARDA. Read more... New Agreement between CIMMYT and the Canadian Wheat Alliance to Focus on Disease Resistance in Durum Wheat The Canadian Wheat Alliance (CWA) and CIMMYT will collaborate on research to provide farmers in Canada and in developing countries access to stronger, more resistant durum wheat. The joint research builds upon the two organizations long-term programs to improve the yield, sustainability and profitability of wheat. Read more... Bhutan releases new wheat varieties after a gap of 20 years The Government of Bhutan has authorized the release of two new improved wheat varieties (Bajosokhaka and Gumasokhaka) from CIMMYT. This is the first release of any wheat variety in Bhutan in the last 20 years and is the result of a collaboration of CIMMYT, the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia, the Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat project and the BGRI. Read more... BGRI Newsletter / 2015 No

6 Ethiopia addresses bottlenecks in its wheat value chain The Direct Seed Marketing (DSM) program is a new grassroots seed marketing and distribution program supported by the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) and the Ministry of Agriculture to improve the country’s wheat crop through the marketing of improved seed by multiple producers and agents. The DSM, supported by CIMMYT and USAID, is part of Ethiopia s Wheat Productivity Increase Initiative, which aims to end the country s reliance on wheat imports. Read more... Subscribe / Unsubscribe If you would like to be added to the newsletter list, send a message to bgri@cornell.edu with Add Me in the subject line. If you would like to be removed from this list, please send a message to bgri@cornell.edu with Remove from e-list in the subject line. Editor's Notes The Borlaug Global Rust Initiative facilitates the evolution of a sustainable international system to contain the threat of wheat rusts and enhance wheat productivity to withstand future global threats to wheat. Any person or institution with an interest or stake in wheat rust research and development is welcome to be a member of the BGRI just send a message to BGRI@cornell.edu indicating your interest, and you will be added to our distribution list. For more information about the BGRI, wheat rust projects, and who s who in the wheat rust world, visit the BGRI website This newsletter is edited by Cally Arthur and sent to members of the BGRI. Please send comments to the editor, at caa9@cornell.edu BGRI members are encouraged to contribute to the newsletter and the BGRI Blog. Submissions may be technical communications on wheat breeding and rust pathology issues; announcements of meetings, courses and electronic conferences; book announcements and reviews; websites of special relevance to wheat and the rusts; announcements of funding opportunities; requests to other readers for information and collaboration; and feature articles or discussion issues brought by subscribers. BGRI Newsletter / 2015 No