New wheat variety aids fight against blight

Researchers have created a new strain of wheat with an inbuilt resistance to devastating scab blight which infects wheat heads - reducing crop yields as well as market value and quality. Scab blight is caused by the fungus Fusarium graminearum and affects durum wheat, used for making pasta products. The disease infects wheat heads, shrivelling the kernels and releasing toxins which diminish the quality of the crop. Currently durum wheat crops have no inbuilt resistance to the blight, unlike wheatgrass which appears to be immune to its effects. By extracting chromosomes from wheatgrass and inserting them into a new breed of wheat, US scientists from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) have discovered a way of ensuring future durum crops could prove more resilient to scab blight.... Whole article: "www.checkbiotech.org":[ http://www.checkbiotech.org/root/index.cfm?fuseaction=news&doc_id=14705&start=1&control=214&page_start=1&page_nr=101&pg=1]

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