Scientists at the USDA Small Grains and Potato Germplasm Research Unit at Aberdeen, Idaho, have been combing old records in their search for wheat that may be resistant to UG99 and other types of stem rust. Nearly 8500 accessions from all around the world have been tested since 1988. Those tests did not include UG99, of course, which first emerged in 1999, but they are still useful to identify likely candidates. Farmers’ varieties from Chile, Ethiopia, Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina are showing promise, and several are being shipped out to east Africa to be trialled in the real world where UG99 runs riot.
The article in the USDA’s magazine is just one of several that discuss cereal breeding. There’s an editorial on the need for global cooperation ((Doh! It’s a global problem.)), an overview of UG99 (which we blogged earlier) and others on breeding soybeans and common beans.