White Winter Wheat Research Articles

Integrating multiple inputs for soft red and white winter wheat

AbstractMichigan winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) growers continue to adopt intensive management strategies. However, instead of broadscale implementation of an entire collection of inputs simultaneously, practitioners question which inputs may better contribute to improved production. Studies evaluated soft winter wheat plant growth, grain yield, and expected economic net return for multiple agronomic and nutrient inputsacross varying production intensities. Field trials established in Richville and Lansing, MI, during 2017 and 2018 evaluated six agronomic inputs including: seeding rate, fungicide, plant growth regulator (PGR), autumn starter fertilizer, weekly nitrogen (N) applications, and a high N rate. Autumn‐applied starter fertilizer was the only individual input resulting in a consistent grain yield response. Removal of autumn starter fertilizer from high‐input (HI) management decreased grain yield an average of 1.6 Mg ha–1 while increasing grain yield 1.1 Mg ha–1 on average when added to low‐input (LI) management. Autumn starter fertilizer accounted for 71% of the grain yield difference between HI and LI. Although greater management intensity increased grain yield compared to LI management in 3 of 4 site‐years, expected net return was greater when utilizing LI management. Results suggest producers consider current soil, plant, and climate conditions at the time of application and across variabilities through the field as weather factors may control much of the uncertainty growers encounter when deliberating between individual or multiple input adoption.

Genome-wide association mapping of the 'super-soft' kernel texture in white winter wheat.

The novel super-soft kernel phenotype has the potential to improve wheat processing and flour quality. We identified genomic regions associated with this kernel texture in white winter wheat. Grain hardness is a key determinant of wheat milling and baking quality. The recently discovered 'super-soft' kernel phenotype has the potential to improve wheat processing and flour quality. However, the genetic basis underlying the super-soft trait in wheat is not yet well understood. In this study, we investigated the phenotypic and genotypic structure of the super-soft trait in a collection of 172 advanced soft white winter wheat breeding lines and cultivars adapted to the Pacific Northwest region of the USA. This collection had a continuous distribution for grain hardness index (single-kernel characterization system). Ten super-soft genotypes showed hardness index ≤ 12 including the cultivar Jasper. Over 98,000 SNP markers from genotyping-by-sequencing were used for association mapping (GWAS). The GWAS identified 20 significant markers associated with grain hardness. These significant SNPs corresponded to seven QTL on chromosomes 2B, 3A, 3B, 5A, 6B,7A, and one unaligned chromosome. Two of these QTL, QSKhard.wql-3A and QSKhard.wql-5A, had large effects and distinguished between the normal soft and the super-soft classes. QSKhard.wql-3A and QSKhard.wql-5A reduced the hardness index by 11.7 and 13.1 on average, respectively. The remaining QTL had small effects and reduced grain hardness within the normal soft range. QSKhard.wql-2B, QSKhard.wql-3A, QSKhard.wql-3B, and QSKhard.wql-6B were not previously reported to be in genomic regions of grain hardness-related genes/QTL. The identified super-soft genotypes as well as the SNPs associated with lower grain hardness will be useful to assist breeding for this grain texture trait.

Soft Wheat Quality as Related to Protein Composition

ABSTRACTSoft red and white winter wheats from the eastern United States, used primarily to produce cookies, cakes, and biscuits, have quality requirements very different from those of bread wheats. In general, soft wheats have been bred to have low protein content, and conventional wisdom has been that protein composition of soft wheat is relatively unimportant. To test this hypothesis, relationships between soft wheat protein composition and end‐use functional quality characteristics were examined. Quantitative protein compositions of eight cultivars of soft wheats grown in a wide area of the eastern United States during seven years (53 samples total) were analyzed by size‐exclusion HPLC. Results were statistically correlated with numerous chemical and physical characteristics and quality factors of these wheats, their flours, and of cookies baked from the flours. For the entire sample set, wheats containing high molecular weight glutenin subunits 2+12 showed significantly different properties and cookie characteristics from those with subunits 5+10, but amounts of most individual fractions correlated poorly with quality descriptors. For individual soft wheat cultivars, however, amounts of many individual gliadin and glutenin subfractions correlated significantly with quality descriptors such as SDS sedimentation, mixograph absorption, peak mixing time, mixograph number, cookie diameter, and top grain. Protein contents as a function of genotype and environment also differed greatly among cultivars, as did ratios of gliadin to glutenin. These results clearly revealed that suitability of soft wheat cultivars for specific products can be rapidly determined by quantitative and qualitative analyses of protein composition.

ANNETTE WHEAT

Annette is a soft, white winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar highly to very resistant to 11 tester isolates of Erysiphe graminis f. sp. tritici with seven virulence genes. In its area of adaptation, southwestern Ontario with more than 2700 CHU, it has yield similar to that of the highest yielding recommended cultivars.Key words: Cultivar description, powdery mildew, wheat (winter), Triticum aestivum L.

The Effects of Deoxynivalenol (Vomitoxin) on Dietary Preference of White Leghorn Hens ,

In two experiments, a total of 108 laying hens were given two-choice preference tests involving diets containing 4-deoxynivalenol (DON) and control diets that contained little (.2 mg DON/kg) or no DON. The DON was from naturally contaminated white winter (.35 and .70 mg/kg; Experiment 1) or spring wheat (1.4 and 4.5 mg/kg) and purified DON (1.4 mg/kg; Experiment 2). Testing lasted 14 to 16 days for each hen, with the position of the separate feed containers that held the control or DON diet being altered daily. The birds showed large individual differences in diet selection. The majority of the hens consumed more (P<.05) of the control diet, but a few consistently preferred the DON-containing diets. In addition, some birds showed a consistent preference for the position of the feed container, usually for the diet presented on the right side of their cage front. On average, the hens ate less of the DON diets, but their intakes varied depending on the level of contamination (.35 vs. 4.5 mg/kg) and source of DON. A diet containing purified DON was rejected more strongly than one containing a similar level (1.4 mg/kg) of naturally occurring DON. Based on daily intake of the control and DON diets from each feed container in Experiment 2, the individual hens were categorized into those that preferred the control diets, the DON diets, the position of the feed container, and those that showed no clear preference. In a third experiment, these hens were given the control or DON-containing (4.5 mg/kg) diet only for a 4-day period. Previous preference for control or DON diet had little influence on daily diet intake when the birds were given the diets in separate weeks (Experiment 3), but the birds preferring DON consumed significantly more of the DON diet. In all experiments, egg production and changes in body weight were similar among the diet pairs. The results of these experiments indicate that the effects of DON on dietary intake were probably due to influences on palatability or olfactory responses and were not likely due to anorexic effects.

Effects of Feeding White Leghorn Hens Diets that Contain Deoxynivalenol (Vomitoxin)-Contaminated Wheat

A short-term (10 weeks, Experiment 1) and a long-term experiment (24 weeks, Experiment 2) were done to determine effects of incorporating either white winter wheat, naturally contaminated with 1 mg deoxynivalenol (DON)/kg, or spring wheats, containing up to 6.5 mg DON/kg, into the diets of White Leghorn hens. Based on chemical analysis, the diets in Experiment 1 contained <.05 to .7 mg DON/kg, while those in Experiment 2 contained from .2 to 4.9 mg/kg. Incorporation of winter or spring wheat in the experimental diets had no effect (P>.05) on feed intake and efficiency, egg production and yield, the number of soft shell and cracked eggs observed in the laying house, body weight at the completion of the experimental period, fertility, hatchability of fertile eggs, and the proportion of malformed embryos and pips. In addition, presence of DON-contaminated wheat did not influence (P>.05) the organ weight to body weight ratio for a randomly selected sample of hens necropsied at the completion of each experiment. There was little evidence of lesions in the oral cavity, esophagus, proventriculus and gizzard, hemorrhaging in the viscera or skeletal muscles, or of changes in the appearance of spleen, heart, and kidney. However, the livers from DON hens were fatty in appearance. Furthermore, vomiting (emesis), diarrhea, or changes in behaviour were not apparent and mortality, normally very low, was not increased during either experiment. Inverse linear relationships were obtained in Experiment 1 between dietary DON concentrations and egg weight (P<.05), shell weight and thickness (P<.01), and percent shell (P<.05). Although egg and shell variables measured in Experiment 2 were not significantly influenced (P>.05) by DON treatment, trends towards lower values with higher dietary DON levels were evident. Egg specific gravity, nondestructive deformation, and quasistatic compression fracture strength of the egg's shell were not influenced (P>.05) by dietary DON levels. The results from these experiments indicate that laying hens can tolerate diets containing up to 5 mg DON/kg from white winter or spring wheat for extended periods of time without serious adverse effects on health and productivity.

Deoxynivalenol in an ExperimentalFusarium GraminearumInfection of Wheat

White winter wheat was infected with Fusarium graminearum and the concentrations of deoxynivalenol and ergosterol were measured. Deoxynivalenol and ergosterol concentrations in the spikes peaked (9.5 and 47 ppm, respectively) 6 weeks afterinoculation and declined (by 73 and 16%, respectively) thereafter. The significance of this decline is discussed.