|
|
Western Australian wheat growers will be the main beneficiaries of new molecular research into the genetic determinants of high quality noodle wheats.
 State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre (SABC)-based research officer Ann Briney has applied new molecular techniques to devise a DNA test that specifically identifies the main noodle-quality genes of wheat.
The project is funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation, in collaboration with the SABC, Agriculture Western Australia and the Quality Wheat Co-operative Research Centre.
Western Australia is regarded as the world's best source of wheat for the production of white salted Japanese Udon noodles.
In excess of 1.2 million tonnes of WA wheat worth A$240 million is exported annually to Japan and South Korea.
Ms Briney said wheat breeding is a complex, time-consuming and labour-intensive process in which many agronomic qualities from thousands of genetically-diverse offspring are produced when two lines are crossed.
"The new DNA test allows the sustainability of a certain plant for noodle production to be identified accurately and quickly from 0.05 grams of nearly-germinated leaf tissue," she said.
This technology would enable plant breeders to determine the suitability of plants from newly-germinated breeding lines rapidly, well before the grains develop.
"The DNA test will allow rapid production of improved noodle-quality wheat varieties that are suited to Western Australian growing conditions," she said.
"It is an important development that will keep Western Australia ahead of the rest in the increasingly competitive export markets also sought by the USA, Canada and Europe."
See also
Turning wheat yield forecasting into an art form
Technology Transfer Centre to boost State's agriculture
|