MTS18149 Memorandum

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TO: Wheat Cultivar Release and Recommendation Committee
FROM: Jim Berg, Phil Bruckner, and Jake Tracy, Winter wheat breeders
DATE: January 5, 2022
RE: Proposal for protected MAES public cultivar release of MTS18149

The following motion and supporting documentation will be presented for consideration at the Cultivar Release and Recommendation Meeting in Bozeman:

MOTION: That MTS18149 hard red winter wheat be approved for release in 2022.
PEDIGREE: MTS18149 derives from 2015 backcross between the semi-solid variety Loma (MAES, 2016) to AAC Gateway [Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (Lethbridge, Alberta), 2012]
RECOMMENDATION: Protected MAES Public Release
NAME: to be determined (possible names = MT Fairview, MT Turner)

Selection history:

Following the 2015 cross (15X6), these are steps in the development of MTS18149:

Purification/seed stocks: Purification and increase of MTS18149 was initiated in 2020 when 132 headrows derived in the DH4 generation were evaluated for phenotypic uniformity & stem solidness. 109 linerows were bulked as Breeder seed and increased at Bozeman in 2021. Breeder seed of MTS18149 was planted fall 2021 for 2022 Foundation seed production [7 acres Bozeman Bart Farm]. MTS18149 has been genetically uniform and stable over two generations of seed increase with few visually obvious plant variants

Table 1. Agronomic characteristics of MTS18149 vs. a set of solid-stemmed varieties, 2019-2021^1/

1/ = includes 2020-2021 intrastate, 2020-2021 Off Station, and 2019-2021 Sawfly tests
Bold Italics = indicates highest (or most desirable) value within a column

Description

MTS18149 is awned, white-glumed, semisolid-stemmed, semi-dwarf hard red winter wheat. MTS18149 has medium-late maturity, 169d heading from 1 January, 2 to 3d later than Warhorse and Bobcat, and similar to Loma (Table1). MTS18149 is semi-dwarf (Rht B1b) and short (26.4 inches, n=45), significantly shorter than Loma, Warhorse, and Judee, but similar to Bobcat (Table 1). MTS18149 is resistant to stripe rust, has adequate stem solidness, and is resistant to cutting by the wheat stem sawfly. Grain protein of MTS18149 is similar to Loma and Bobcat, higher than StandClear CLP, and lower than Judee and Warhorse.

Characteristics/comparisons:

Yield:

In 50 location-years (LY) of testing in the Montana Winter Wheat Intrastate, Off-station, and Sawfly nurseries average yield of MTS18149 (61.8 bu/a) was similar to the yield of Loma, StandClear CLP, and Bobcat and 5bu/acre higher than Warhorse and Judee (Table 2). MTS18149 is competitive with other solid stem cultivars for yield in most Districts (Table 2), but most importantly in the Havre and Conrad areas where wheat stem sawfly (WSS) is the biggest issue and yield of MTS17149 is 5-10% higher than that of Warhorse and Judee. Additionally, MTS18149 had the highest yield of all solid-stemmed varieties in the Sidney/Williston area where sawflies may become an issue. 

Yield in infested environments:

Table 3 shows direct comparison of MTS18149 to the same set of cultivars in 14 environments that were heavily infested by wheat stem sawfly (average cutting by WSS>10%). In these WSS-infested environments, MTS18149 is second in yield to Bobcat and has low cutting incidence (significantly lower than the other semisolid varieties; Loma, StandClear CLP, and Judee) by sawfly (Table 3).

Table 2. Yield of MTS18149 compared to other solid-stemmed varieties, 2019-2021^1/

bold italics = indicates highest value within a column
bold = indicates varieties with values equal to highest variety within a column based on Fisher's Protected LSD (p = 0.05)
1/ includes 2020-2021 Intrastate, 2020-2021 Off-station, and 2019 Sawfly tests
2/ includes data from Fort Smith, Hardin area, Molt Rapelje
3/ includes data from Belt, Denton, Geraldine, Highwood
4/ includes data from Choteau, Cut Bank, The Knees, Shelby
5/ includes data from Big Sandy, Fort Benton, Hingham, Gilford, Loma, Turner

Table 3. MTS18149: Yield Performance under Sawfly Pressure (test average cutting ≥ 10%) and % Sawfly Cutting (2019-2021)

bold italics = indicates highest value within a column
bold = indicates varieties with values equal to highest variety within a column based on Fisher's

Table 4. Stem solidness ratings of MTS18149 compared to other solid-stemmed varieties, (2019-2021)

bold italics = indicates highest value within a column
bold = indicates varieties with values equal to highest variety within a column based on Fisher's
1/ = includes Big Sandy, Carter/ Fort Benton, Gildford, Hingham, Kremlin, and Loma

Stem Solidness:

Stem solidness of MTS18149 over years and locations is similar to Loma, Judee, and StandClear CLP and significantly less than Warhorse and Bobcat (Table 4).

Test Weight:

Test weight of MTS18149 (59.8 lb/bu, n = 47) is similar to Loma and Bobcat, higher than Warhorse and lower than Judee and StandClear CLP (Table 1)

Falling number:

Falling number is moderate (value = 380, n - 4), similar to all check cultivars except sprout-resistant Warhorse.

Milling and baking quality: 

Based on experimental milling using a Barbender Automat Mill, flour yield of MTS18149 is high with flour as content similar to Warhorse and intermediate flour protein (Table 5). MTS18149 has low PPO (polypheol oxidase) like Loma. MTS18149 has strong dough mixing characteristics with high water absorption, and relatively long mixing time. Baking qualities of MTS18149 are acceptable with intermediate loaf volume similar to Loma and Warhorse (Table 5).

Table 5. Mill and bake characteristics of MTS18149, Intrastate and Sawfly Tests, 2020

bold italics = indicates highest value within a column
bold = indicates varieties with values equal to highest variety within a column based on Fisher's
1/ low is best for noodles

Disease and insect resistance:

Characterization of MTS18149 for disease and insect resistance included Montana trials and cooperative evaluations at Washington State University (Pullman, WA) and the USDA Cereal Disease Laboratory (St. Paul, MN).

MTS18149 has moderate stem solidness and good resistance to cutting by wheat stem sawfly (Tables 1, 3, & 4).

MTS18149 was tested for reactions to natural infections of Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici in Pullman and Mount Vernon, WA from 2019 to 2021. Across locations and over years, MTS18149 had a highly resistant reaction with infection type (IT) 2 to moderate resistant reaction (IT 5) with low severity, 5-15%.

MTS18149 was grown in field tests in St. Paul (2019) and was found to have a moderately susceptible reaction to stem rust.

Based on 2021 NRPN evaluation, MTS18149 is susceptible to leaf rust.

MTS18149 was seedling tested for aluminum tolerance at Rockford, WA (low pH = 3.5-4 in top 5” of soil) in 2019 and received scores of 3 at two different evaluation dates. 4’s were the highest scores (highest = most tolerant) of any of the 198 Montana lines tested that year. Additionally, MTS18149 was the highest yielding line in the Turner Off Station winter wheat test in 2020 (66.9 bu/a, 7 bu/a higher than the next highest variety, with the test average = 53.2) where low soil pH (= 5.3) was noted by Peggy Lamb.

MTS18149 is a high-yielding, semisolid-stem, semi-dwarf cultivar with good resistance to cutting by wheat stem sawfly. At Conrad and Havre field testing sites where wheat stem sawfly is a problem, grain yield of MTS18149 is more than 10% higher than the current, predominant solid stem cultivars Judee and Warhorse. MTS18149 combines high yield potential, acceptable test weight, grain protein content, and milling and baking quality with excellent stripe rust resistance, moderate stem solidness, and good resistance to cutting by wheat stem sawfly. MTS18149 has exhibited good aluminum/acid soil tolerance.