Poster: Epidemiology: Climate Change
615-P
Screening the monosomic lines of the Chinese Spring wheat variety for ozone tolerance.
A. MASHAHEET (1), D. Marshall (2), K. Burkey (2), R. Ullah (1), A. Abdelrhim (3) (1) North Carolina State University, U.S.A.; (2) USDA-ARS, North Carolina State University, U.S.A.; (3) North Carolina State University, U.S.A.
Elevated tropospheric ozone is currently a major challenge to wheat production worldwide and is anticipated to be more challenging in the future. Breeding wheat for ozone tolerance is needed to maintain or increase wheat yield. However, there is limited information on the genetic control of ozone tolerance in wheat. The current understanding is that genome A and genome B are responsible for tolerance, whereas genome D is responsible for ozone sensitivity of modern wheat. In this study, we investigated the contribution of each of the 21 chromosomes of the Chinese Spring variety towards its ozone tolerance. We screened the 21 monosomic lines of Chinese Spring, at four ozone concentrations (CF, 50, 70 and 90 ppbv, 12 hr daily average, for 2 weeks). Ozone-induced foliar injury results showed that the absence of chromosome 7A reduces ozone tolerance. In contrast, the absence of chromosome 4A increases tolerance. None of the chromosomes of the genome D were found to individually reduce ozone tolerance. Future studies are needed to identify the genetic basis of ozone tolerance and the associated DNA markers to facilitate the incorporation of ozone tolerance into wheat breeding programs.