Abstract ‘Hilliard’ (Reg. no. CV‐1163, PI 676271), a soft red winter (SRW) wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) developed and tested as VA11W‐108 by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, was released in March 2015. Hilliard was derived from the cross ‘25R47’/‘Jamestown’. Hilliard is widely adapted, from Texas to Ontario, Canada, and provides producers with a mid‐season, medium height, awned, semi‐dwarf ( Rht 2) cultivar that has very high yield potential, good straw strength, and intermediate grain volume weight and quality. It expresses moderate to high levels of resistance to most diseases prevalent in the eastern United States and Ontario. In the 2016–2018 USDA‐ARS Uniform SRW Wheat nurseries, Hilliard ranked first in grain yield in the southern nursery across all 3 yr (5,147–5,758 kg ha −1 ). In the uniform eastern nursery, it ranked first for grain yield in 2016 (6,159 kg ha −1 ) and 2017 (5,633 kg ha −1 ) and second in 2018 (5,515 kg ha −1 ). Grain volume weights of Hilliard were similar to overall trial averages in the uniform southern (73.4–75.2 kg hl −1 ) and eastern (70–75.8 kg hl −1 ) nurseries. Hilliard has soft grain texture with flour softness equivalent values varying from 58.1 to 61.7 g 100 g −1 . Straight grade flour yields on a Quadrumat Senior mill varied from 66.8 to 68.4 g kg −1 . Flour protein concentration varied from 7.0 to 9.1 g 100 g −1 and gluten strength from 108 to 128 g 100 g −1 , as measured by lactic acid solvent retention capacity. Cookie spread diameter varied from 18.3 to 18.6 cm.
Stagonospora nodorum blotch (SNB), which is caused by Stagonospora nodorum, occurs frequently in the southeastern United States, and severe epidemics can lead to substantial yield losses. To develop a model for the progress of SNB based on the effects of temperature on the latent period of the pathogen, batches of two winter wheat cultivars, AGS 2000 and USG 3209, were inoculated with S. nodorum at weekly intervals for 16 weeks. After 72 h of incubation, inoculated plants were exposed to outdoor conditions where temperatures ranged from -6.6 to 35.8°C, with a mean batch temperature ranging from 9.7 to 24.7°C. Latent period, expressed as time from inoculation until the first visible lesions with pycnidia, ranged from 13 to 34 days. The relationship between the inverse of the latent period and mean temperature was best described by a linear model, and the estimated thermal time required for the completion of the latent period was 384.6 degree-days. A shifted cumulative gamma distribution model with a base temperature of 0.5°C significantly (P < 0.0001) described the relationship between increasing number of lesions with pycnidia and accumulated thermal time. When latent period was defined as time to 50% of the maximum number of lesions with pycnidia (L50), the model estimated L50 as 336 and 326 degree-days above 0.5°C for AGS 2000 and USG 3209, respectively. The relationship between 1/L50 and mean temperature was also best described using a linear model (r2 = 0.93, P < 0.001). This study provides data that link disease progress with wheat growth, which facilitates accurate identification of thresholds for timing of fungicide applications.
The structure of the U.S. wheat powdery mildew population (Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici) has not been previously investigated, and the global evolutionary history of B. graminis f. sp. tritici is largely unknown. After gathering 141 single-ascosporic B. graminis f. sp. tritici isolates from 10 eastern U.S. locations, 34 isolates from the United Kingdom, and 28 isolates from Israel, we analyzed pathogen population structure using presumptively neutral markers. DNA was extracted from conidia, primers for 12 “housekeeping” genes were designed, and amplicons were examined for polymorphism. Four genes were found to contain a total of 12 single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the U.S. population and were also analyzed in the U.K. and Israeli populations. In total, 25 haplotypes were inferred from the four concatenated genes, with 2 haplotypes comprising over 70% of the U.S. population. Using Hudson's tests and analysis of molecular variance, we found the wheat mildew isolates subdivided into four groups corresponding to distinct regions: the mid-Atlantic United States, the southern United States, the United Kingdom, and Israel. Genotypic diversity was greatest in samples from the United Kingdom, Israel, Virginia, and Kinston, NC. Using rarefaction, a procedure that compensates for differing sample sizes when estimating population richness and diversity, we found that cooler locations with greater conduciveness to regular powdery mildew epidemics had the greatest haplotype richness. Our results suggest that the eastern U.S. B. graminis f. sp. tritici population is young, descended recently from Old World populations with isolation and genetic drift, and is currently subdivided into northern and southern subpopulations.
Septoria nodorum blotch occurs in wheat-growing areas worldwide, but the disease is more prevalent in areas with warm and moist weather, such as the southeastern United States, parts of Europe, southern Brazil, and Australia. The disease affects both the quantity and quality of yield, and the pathogen is capable of affecting wheat at both seedling and adult stages. Historically, losses up to 50% have been reported, in addition to lower grain quality, although in the U.S., lower levels of loss are typical. The yield losses are highest when flag leaf, F-1 (leaf below flag leaf), and F-2 (leaf below F-1) are infected. The disease is known to reduce thousand-kernel-weight, a yield parameter. The fungus undergoes regular cycles of sexual recombination due to the availability of both mating types, and creates genetic variation in its population, thus enhancing its potential to overcome control measures. The pathosystem is also a model system for necrotrophic plant pathogens. So far, nine necrotrophic effectors and host susceptibility gene interaction have been identified, which have the potential to be used in marker assisted selection for breeding resistant wheat varieties.
In eastern North Carolina, mild to severe stunting and root rot have reduced yields of winter wheat, especially during years with abundant rainfall. Causal agents of root rot of wheat in this region were previously identified as Pythium irregulare, P. vanterpoolii, and P. spinosum. To investigate species prevalence, 114 isolates of Pythium were obtained from symptomatic wheat plants collected in eight counties. Twelve species were recovered, with P. irregulare (32%), P. vanterpoolii (17%), and P. spinosum (16%) the most common. Pathogenicity screens were performed with selected isolates of each species, and slight to severe necrosis of young roots was observed. The aggressiveness of five isolates each of P. irregulare, P. vanterpoolii, and P. spinosum was compared on a single cultivar of wheat at 14°C, and very aggressive isolates were found within all species. In vitro growth of these isolates was measured at 14 and 20°C, and all isolates grew faster at the warmer temperature. The effects of varying temperatures and rates of nitrogen on root rot caused by Pythium spp. alone or in combination were investigated. All inoculation treatments caused severe root rot under all conditions tested, and disease was more severe at 12 and 14°C compared with 18 and 20°C; however, there was no effect of nitrogen application.
