Disease Modeling and Genetic Approaches to Enhance Wheat and Grass Seed Crop Biosecurity

Objective 1. Discover and test germplasm that has genetic resistance to principal or emerging diseases in forage seed and wheat production. Subobjective 1.A. Develop an approach for evaluation of orchardgrass germplasm for resistance to choke disease. Subobjective 1.B. Identify germplasm of Lolium with resistance to rust diseases. Subobjective 1.C. Identify germplasm and increase seed for wheat and barley lines with resistance to stem rust Ug99. Subobjective 1.D. Identify genomic sequences in Brachypodium associated with non-host resistance to the wheat stem rust pathogen. Objective 2. Develop plant disease modeling tools to protect food supply and implement biosecurity strategies against rusts and other diseases of grass and wheat. Subobjective 2.A. Develop a model for timing of application of fungicides for control of ergot in Kentucky bluegrass. Subobjective 2.B. Determine the role of aphids in infection of orchardgrass by Epichloe typhina. Subobjective 2.C. Implement weather-based epidemiological model for stem rust of perennial ryegrass. Subobjective 2.D. Adapt ryegrass stem rust models to wheat stem rust.