PROGRESS IN BREEDING AND SELECTION OF SMUT RESISTANT SUGARCANE VARIETIES IN THE SMUTBUSTER PROGRAM

摘要

Sugarcane smut was first identified on the east coast of Australia near Childers in June 2006. By December 2007, sugarcane smut was widespread in the Bundaberg-Isis district, and had also spread to the Central Queensland and Herbert River districts. By 2010 smut was widespread in most districts. To minimise losses, susceptible commercial varieties needed to be replaced with equivalent/higher yielding smut-resistant varieties as quickly as possible. The parental pool of high breeding value, smut-resistant germplasm also needed to be augmented to limit the decrease in the rate of genetic gain in the breeding program. The SmutBuster program was a key component of the RD&E response to the sugarcane smut incursion with the specific objectives of 1) developing high yielding smut-resistant varieties through the utilisation of high breeding value, but smut-susceptible parental germplasm, and 2) increasing the frequency of smut resistance genes in the Australian parent and selection populations. The SmutBuster program commenced in 2006 with the first of five seedling populations grown near Bundaberg and selected under artificial smut-inoculation conditions. Selected clones were then tested for productivity in clonal trials in all regions and used as parents with short generation interval. The best clones from the SmutBuster clonal trials are being tested in regional Final Assessment Trials (FATs) as part of the core program. The addition of this program effectively doubled the size of the core selection program for five years. Clones from the first seedling population were planted in FATs in 2012 and results for 2012 and 2013 series FATs are being reviewed, with the best clones selected for further propagation and possible release from 2016/17. Progeny from the shortened generation interval crossing program utilising accelerated SmutBuster clones as parents have also reached core clonal trials. This poster presents the SmutBuster progress to date and makes some comparisons with the core program.