ARS | Publication request: TRANSGENIC APPROACHES TO COMBAT FUSARIUM HEAD BLIGHT IN WHEAT AND BARLEY.

Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: August 15, 1999
Publication Date: November 1, 1999
Citation: Dahleen, L.S., Okubara, P.A., Blechl, A.E. 1999. Transgenic approaches to combat fusarium head blight in wheat and barley. Agronomy Abstracts, p. 83.

Technical Abstract: Transformation of wheat and barley may help combat Fusarium head blight (FHB) by the insertion of antifungal and antitoxin genes. Funding from the National Scab Initiative and other sources is being used for public transformation and related projects across the country. FHB-related transformation projects are inserting more than 12 genes into barley and 15 into wheat. Genes being inserted were isolated from yeast, fusarium fungi, cereals and other plants, bacteria, and animals. Both particle bombardment and Agrobacterium-mediated transformation techniques are in use. Projects are at various stages of development, from production of transgenic plants through field testing for the effects of the transgenes on FHB. Related projects include the isolation of additional genes from wheat, fungi and other sources, isolation of gene promoters that target gene expression to plant parts infected by FHB, and improvements of transformation techniques.