Developing Nutrient Efficient Cultivars

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Breeding and Management Strategies for Enhanced
Zn, Se, and I Grain Density in Cereals James
StangoulisDiscipline of Plant and Pest Science,
Waite Institute
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Why Do We Want to Increase Zn, Se and I in Cereal
Grain?

• Many millions of people afflicted by deficiencies
• Supplementation/Fortification works but does not
  reach all
• Staple cereals make up a large part of the diet
  in areas where deficiencies occur

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Breeding vs Fertiliser Agronomy. What is the best
method to supply the nutrient?

• Q. Does genotypic variation exist for grain Zn,
  Se and I?
• If yes, and trait is relatively stable across
  environments and seasons, breeding is a
  possibility
• If not, check out a fertilizer approach

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Genotypic Variation for Grain Zn Allows for a
Breeding Strategy
(Genc et al unpublished)

• Rice 14 58 ppm Zn (Graham et al. 1999)
• Maize 15 24 ppm Zn (Banzinger and Long, 2000)

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We can speed up breeding for high Zn grain using
MAS
5H
2H
Lonergan, 2001
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Zn Fertiliser Can Also be Used to Biofortify
Crops e.g. in Wheat
Grain Zn (mg/kg)
Zn efficient for root uptake
Zn Applied (mg/kg soil)
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Increased Seed Zn Improves Early Vigour on Zn
Deficient Soil
medium
high
low
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Enhancing Grain Se

• Breeding
• genotypic variation exists
• soil variability very high
• Fertilizer Application Enhances Grain Se
  Concentration
• Cheap and easy

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High Soil Se Variability Limits a Successful
Breeding Initiative
 

• Grain Se (µg kg-1)
• Wheat Var Rep Site 1 Site 2
• Krichauff 1 110 120
• 2 100 88
• 3 97 170
• 4 35 270
• 5 58

Lyons et al. 2004
 
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Effect of Se Fertiliser and Application Method on
Wheat Grain Se (mg/kg)
 

• Se Rate Charlick Minnipa
• (g/ha selenate) Soil Foliar Soil Foliar
• 0 0.1 0.1 0.6 0.7
• 10 0.2 0.2 1.1 0.9
• 30 0.4 0.4 0.9 1.1
• 100 2.1 0.6 2.7 1.8
• 300 8.3 1.2 12.0 3.6

Lyons et al. 2004
 
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Enhancing Grain I

• Breeding Initiative
• insufficient genotypic variability
• Fertilizer Application Enhances Grain I
• De Long et al. (1997)
• In Xinjiang Province, I added to irrigation water
  over 2-4 week period resulted in
• increased I in crops and animals
• reduced infant mortality rates

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Iodine Biofortification of Rice Confirmed in
Recent Studies in Xinjiang, China
medium
high
low
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Applying KI to Paddy Rice Increases Both Leaf and
Grain Iodine
 
Iodine µg/100 g
0
Soil Applied Iodine (g ha-1)
Graham et al. unpublished
 
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Summary

• Zn Biofortification
• both breeding and fertilizer strategy possible
• Se and I Biofortification
• agronomic, fertilizer strategy successful option
• in developing countries, requires legislation to
  add Se and I to urea as no yield benefit to
  farmers

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Thankyou