Acta Agronomica Hungarica (1997) 45, 279-283

A. Laroche, D.A. Gaudet, P. Audy, M.M. Frick and J. Mullin (1997)
Induction of freezing tolerance and snow mould resistance in winter wheat: biochemical and molecular perspectives
Acta Agronomica Hungarica 45 (3), 279-283
Abstract: The accumulation of mono-, disaccharides and fructans, and total carbohydrates varied among winter wheat cultivars possessing different levels of resistance to snow moulds and freezing temperatures. The levels of soluble carbohydrates in crown tissues were influenced by the extent of pre-hardening growth at 20°C and hardening growth in plants at 2°C. The association between carbohydrate accumulation in crowns and snow mould resistance or freezing tolerance were observed only at specific developmental stages. Fructan consisted mostly of oligosaccharides ranging from DP3-DP 10 that attained the highest levels in older plants. A subtraction cDNA library yielded an enriched fraction of induced genes related to freezing and snow mould resistance. Most sequences are not homologous to any sequences currently present in GenBank. Preliminary results using an invertase-like probe suggest that the parental lines Norstar and P1181268 differed in their expression of 6-SFT (sucrose: fructan 6-fructosyltransferase) and invertase-like sequences among mRNA populations. Results will be discussed in terms of resistance to freezing temperature and snow mould, and towards the development of winter hardy and snow mould resistant wheat varieties for western Canada.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
resistance/tolerance/defence of host

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Microdochium nivale	Wheat (Triticum)	Canada (west)