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Abstract Detail



Biotic and abiotic stress

Slaski, Jan [1], Anyia, Anthony [1], Capo-Chichi, Ludovic [1], Gingera, Gregory [2], Degenhardt, Rory [3].

Carbon Isotope Discrimination (CID) as a rapid screening tool for water use efficiency (WUE) in canola.

Improved water use efficiency (WUE) is a critically important feature of canola grown on the Canadian prairies that frequently suffer from drastic shortages of precipitation during the vegetation season. Breeding for improved WUE is limited primarily by the lack of suitable screening methodology. Direct measurements of WUE are time-consuming, expensive and laborious, which limits their use in breeding programs. We applied a new, rapid and reliable screening technology based on carbon isotope discrimination (CID) to evaluate a selection of canola lines from Dow AgroSciences for WUE, which is associated with increased grain yield and yield stability under dry conditions. The technology is based on the premise that plants are able to assimilate stable isotopes of carbon at different rate because of discrimination against 13C relative to 12C. Empirical knowledge with several field crops suggested that the extent to which C3 plants discriminate against carbon isotope during carbon assimilation is negatively correlated with transpiration efficiency (TE) or WUE. We found that exposure of canola to drought stress under greenhouse conditions at early stages of development (~ 4 leaf stage) allows for a trustworthy identification of WUE canola accessions based on leaf CID analysis. During the course of the study we have proven that the optimized CID technology can be successfully applied to screen germplasm used in Dow AgroSciences’ breeding program. This technology was capable of distinguishing between benchmark entries, as well as identifying highly water use efficient hybrids with high yield stability. This CID technology should be considered by the canola industry in Canada and beyond as a new screening tool to replace conventional tedious and expensive methods of measuring water use efficiency.


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1 - Alberta Innovates Technology Futures, Ecosystems and Plant Sciences, Hwy 16A-75 Street, Vegreville, AB, T9C 1T4, Canada
2 - Dow AgroSciences Canada Inc., Seeds and Traits Research and Development , Suite 2100, 450-1st Street S.W., Calgary, AB, T2P 5H1, Canada
3 - Dow AgroSciences Canada Inc., Crop Protection Research and Development , Suite 2100, 450-1st Street S.W., Calgary, AB, T2P 5H1, Canada

Keywords:
water use efficiency
Carbon isotope discrimination
Canola
breeding.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Topics
Session: 7
Location: Salon 13/14/The Shaw Conference Centre
Date: Monday, July 27th, 2015
Time: 8:30 AM
Number: 7003
Abstract ID:543
Candidate for Awards:None


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