Abstract:

Despite the tremendous advances made by plant breeders in increasing the global food production, there is still a significant need for increased quantity and quality of food items in various regions of the world. Although this can be partially solved by upgrading the storage and distribution networks, crop performance and yield potentials are constantly challenged by various biotic and abiotic stress factors. As additional tools to facilitate the global wheat breeding efforts at CIMMYT, we have used molecular markers for characterizing loci that confer adult plant resistance to leaf rust and yellow (stripe) rust, which are globally important diseases in wheat. We have also established a biotechnology laboratory that is charged with acquiring, validating and applying markers for certain traits that are important to CIMMYT wheat breeders. Use of PCR based markers coupled with rapid DNA extraction procedures have enabled application of markers on a wide range of material. Genetic engineering procedures have also been used to establish procedures as well as for experimenting with genes that confer resistance to various biotic and abiotic stresses in wheat.

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