Spring Wheat and Barley Disease Screening Nurseries at Crookston, MN

2007 is the thirteenth year that inoculated and misted disease screening nurseries of spring wheat and barley have been grown at Crookston. The continued objective is screening of spring wheat and barley lines for the respective University of Minnesota breeding programs in cooperation with the Plant Pathology Department. Spring wheat is screened for resistance to fusarium head blight caused by Fusarium graminearum.  Spring barley is also screened for resistance to Fusarium head blight caused by Fusarium graminearum as well as septoria speckled leaf blotch caused by Septoria passerinii and net blotch caused by Pyrenophora teres.  Approximately 13,000 misted rows of nursery were grown at the Northwest Research and Outreach Center in 2007. Additionally, 1040 rows of barley were screened for resistance to net blotch near Stephen, MN.

Three different methods of inoculation are used in the nurseries.  Spores are sprayed on the two septoria nurseries commencing at the two leaf stage and repeated at weekly intervals until flag leaf emergence. Infected straw is spread over the net blotch nursery at the three to four leaf stage.  The FHB nursery is inoculated at the five leaf stage by spreading about 50 pounds per acre of corn seed which has been sterilized, infected with Fusarium graminarium and dried. A second 50 pound application is made 10 to 14 days later.

Occurrence of fusarium head blight infections were infrequent in production fields during 2007.  Fortunately, addition of inoculum and mist to the FHB nurseries resulted in disease levels adequate to differentiate levels of FHB resistance.

Cooperator	Nursery	2007 Misted Rows	2007 Non-Misted Rows
Kevin Smith	Barley FHB	6,096	-
Kevin Smith	Septoria speckled leaf blotch	880	-
Kevin Smith	Barley Net Blotch	-	880
Brian Stephenson	FHB	1,840	-
Jim Anderson	FHB	3,000	-
	Other	920	160
Total Disease Nursery Rows		12,736	1,040

-- Galen Thompson, Northwest Research and Outreach Center, Crookston, MN.