Unity hard red spring wheat

Abstract

Unity is a hard red spring wheat that meets the end-use quality specifications of the Canada Western Red Spring class. Unity is the first spring wheat cultivar registered in Canada that contains the antibiosis resistance gene Sm1, which produces a product that reduces the palatability of developing seeds to wheat midge larvae (Sitodiplosis mosellana Géhin). Unity is a partial backcross derivative of McKenzie, using Clark as the donor of the Sm1 gene for midge resistance. Unity was found to be adapted to the eastern wheat growing regions of the Canadian prairies as represented in the Central Bread Wheat Cooperative Registration Test in 2004, 2005 and 2006. For registration testing, the performance of Unity was estimated using the varietal blend Unity VB, which consisted of 90% Unity and 10% Waskada. In comparison to the check cultivars (Katepwa, McKenzie, CDC Teal, AC Barrie, and Superb), Unity was the highest yielding cultivar overall; although not significant, Unity was 5% higher yielding than McKenzie. Unity matured significantly later than Katepwa and significantly earlier than Superb. Unity had significantly shorter plant stature than Katepwa and significantly taller stature than Superb. Unity had significantly greater lodging scores than AC Barrie and Superb. The test weight of Unity was significantly higher than the best check: 0.9 kg hL-1 higher than McKenzie. Unity expressed resistance to leaf rust, stem rust and common bunt, intermediate resistance to loose smut, and susceptibility to fusarium head blight. Unity had preharvest sprouting resistance with an overall sprouting score similar to the best checks McKenzie and Superb. Unity also maintained its falling numbers following natural or artificial weathering of spikes. The end-use suitability attributes of Unity were similar to the recurrent parent McKenzie for all traits except amylograph viscosity which was significantly higher than all checks except Superb. Key words: Triticum aestivum L., cultivar description, red spring wheat, test weight, preharvest sprouting, wheat midge antibiosis