Why is this population important?

Parental lines

TAM107–R7 is a backcross derived line of TAM107 with Russian Wheat Aphid resistance. TAM107 is a very important, historically popular line that was widely grown and used as a parent in the Great Plains. Nekota and Niobrara, both releases from the Nebraska breeding program, have TAM107 as their parent, all which were heterogeneous for 1AL.1RS translocation. TAM107 has the reputation as being a “stem-filling” wheat that can lose it leaves to drought or disease (it is susceptible to many diseases) and still produce good grain yields and grain volume weight. It is a hard red winter wheat. In Nebraska, it was very environmentally sensitive and either topped the yield trials or had a mediocre performance. Arlin was a popular hard white winter wheat that was grown in Kansas predominantly. It was known for its exceptionally high grain yield potential, good disease resistance, and end-use quality. However, in Nebraska, it has marginal winter hardiness and did not perform well in drought stressed environments.

The map

The focus of our research and mapping is on 154 F₆ derived RILs. Our goal is to add at least 350 SSR and DArT markers to cover all linkage groups for QTL mapping once we obtain field data. We plan to focus on drought tolerance, quality, stem and stripe rust, yield and components of yield, winter hardiness, lodging, heading, flowering, and plant height. Field trials will include randomized complete block experiment with three replications in three locations in Nebraska in 2008 and 2009. In 2009, we will also have locations in South Dakota and Texas.