BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:What domestication missed: exploiting wild emmer to improve wheat 
 - Cristobal Uauy\, Department of Crop Genetics\, John Innes Centre
DTSTART:20091022T150000Z
DTEND:20091022T160000Z
UID:TALK20032@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Ian Henderson
DESCRIPTION:Wild emmer wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccoides\; DIC) ha
 s long been recognized as a potential source of valuable alleles for a ser
 ies of important agronomic traits in wheat. We have recently isolated two 
 such genes from wild emmer through positional cloning.  Gpc-B1 is a NAC tr
 anscription factor that improves the efficiency of mineral remobilization 
 from senescing leaves to grains. The wild emmer allele accelerates senesce
 nce by 2-3 days and increases grain N\, Zn and Fe concentration by 10-15%.
  Closely linked to Gpc-B1 (0.3 cM) we identified Yr36\, a gene that confer
 s non race-specific or partial resistance to Puccinia striiformis f. sp. t
 ritici (PST)\, the yellow rust pathogen. This gene encodes a kinase-START 
 domain protein\, representing a novel gene architecture\, and its resistan
 ce was shown to be temperature dependant. Both Gpc-B1 and Yr36 are either 
 non-functional or deleted in all cultivated durum and bread wheat varietie
 s. However\, backcross introgressions of the DIC segment including Gpc-B1 
 and Yr36 confers consistent increases in grain protein and micronutrient c
 oncentration in tetraploid and hexaploid wheat varieties as well as improv
 ing resistance to PST in susceptible cultivars. This suggests that the Gpc
 -B1 and Yr36 wild emmer alleles have the potential to contribute to the im
 provement of wheat nutritional value and yellow rust resistance in a wide 
 range of germplasm. During the seminar we will discuss strategies to reduc
 e the threshold for gene cloning in polyploid wheat and the approaches and
  tools used for functional characterization of these genes. Overall\, our 
 work with emmer argues for the importance of using wild species to discove
 r and recover valuable alleles for modern agriculture. This will become in
 creasingly important as we face new challenges to secure a sustainable foo
 d supply in a changing environment. 
LOCATION:Department of Plant Sciences\, Large Lecture Theatre
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR