New Rust-Resistance Gene Found In Wild Wheat

An international team of researchers has identified a gene that should protect commercially important wheat varieties from stripe rust, a disease that causes severe crop losses around the world.

The newly identified Yr36 resistance gene was first discovered in wild emmer wheat, a low-yielding wheat that grows wild in Israel, reports www.farmonline.com.au.

The gene is absent from modern wheat varieties used for making bread and pasta.

Publication of the gene sequence will give breeders the ability to use sequence-based DNA markers to incorporate Yr36 into new wheat varieties.

The research that discovered the gene was funded by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service and the US-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund.