CONTROL OF BARLEY DISEASES FOR LDC"S

Research efforts will be coordinated with the International Center for the Improvement of Corn and Wheat (CIMMYT) and the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). MSU will implement the project as a follow-on to project 931058011. Researchers will isolate genes having broad-based resistance to specific major diseases affecting barley, such as scald, net blotch, leaf rust, barley stripe mosaic virus (BSMV), and barley yellow dwarf virus. Both seedling and field trials will be made -- for example, field plots in Montana and in the Middle East will identify resistant sources under natural infection conditions. Crosses will be made to pyramid these resistant genes into a base of diverse barley germ plasm, including both 2 row and 6 row types. Barley male steriles will be used to develop recurrent selection populations (RSP"s) combining resistance to a wide spectrum of barley diseases. The most resistant and agronomically acceptable types will be repeated in several cycles of recombination. Stocks developed at MSU will be tested and evaluated at CIMMYT and ICARDA through incorporation into their crossing block and development programs. RSP"s will also be tested at U.S. educational institutions. Technical information from the project will be made available to barley researchers in LDC"s through publication and dissemination of technical journals. MSU investigators will visit foreign testing sites to assess progress in the development of highly resistant RSP"s. A serodiagnostic technique for BSMV will be established at CIMMYT and ICARDA. A germ plasm bank will be created in which sources resistant to specific diseases will be catalogued. The bank will also include classifications of the virulent genes of specific disease organisms. Finally, special efforts will be made to develop a simple toxin screening procedure for use with scald disease caused "Rhynchosporium secalis" and with other barley diseases. Amendment authorizes au unfunded extension through 9/15/81 and an additional funded extension through 1/82; the latter intended to provide for review, approval, and contracting of a proposed 3-year project extension. Project statement dated 1981 extends the project from 8/81 through 7/84. (PD-AAN-034)