Location: Peanut and Small Grains Research Unit
Project Number: 3070-21220-008-017-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 29, 2017
End Date: Sep 28, 2022
Objective:
The objective of this agreement is to screen germplasm for peanut smut resistance (plant, maintain and harvest plots; phenotype entries post-harvest for incidence of peanut smut).
Approach:
Cooperative researchers in Argentina have identified sources of resistance to peanut smut in the Argentine Peanut Germplasm Collection. These accessions are believed to be Bolivian landraces that, when collected, were split and introduced into the U.S. Peanut Germplasm collection as well as others. Since all risks of introducing this pathogen to the U.S. must be avoided, it is necessary to identify resistant sources in the U.S. germplasm collection rather than attempting to receive clean seed from Argentine sources. Therefore, the U.S. Peanut Mini-Core Collection (112 accessions) will be screened in the Instituto Nacional de Technologia Agropecuaria (INTA) disease nursery in Manfredi, Argentina, to identify available sources of smut resistance. We visited INTA in person in March 2017 to determine suitability and discuss the project plans. Dr. Jorge Baldessari (INTA peanut breeder) will conduct trials to screen the U.S. peanut mini-corec ollection and other collections such as the ICRISAT peanut mini-core (118 accessions), PGC CAP RIL parents (10 lines), and other prioritized available germplasm as the Project Team deem necessary.
Trials will be conducted under INTA management practices for peanut smut resistance assessment. Randomized complete block plot designs will be used to ensure statistical soundness. Harvested plots will be phenotyped for smut incidence by INTA personnel. This process is extremely labor intensive due to the fact that currently, the only way to accurately phenotype for smut resistance is to crack open every pod on each plant harvested and visually observe damage. Incidence of smut will be recorded for each line or accession tested and the data will be sent to U.S. cooperators where it will be analyzed for significance. Seed will not be returned to the U.S. for analysis or increase. Trials will be conducted for multiple years to ensure accuracy with U.S. cooperators providing fresh seed for each trial.
